


The Heart That Should Have Stopped Beating (Beats for You)

by Cyberlife_Creed_28



Category: Connara - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), dbh Connor - Fandom, dbh Kara - Fandom
Genre: BAMF Kara, BAMF RK800, BCUZ HOW THE HECK IS A FRICKIN REVOLUTION FINISHED IN A WEEK?!?, Connara - Freeform, Connor and Hank are Good Bros, Everything is longer, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I gave Alice more personality, I love ma babies, I love this so much!, I messed up the timeline, I started this last year! Can you believe it?!?, I'm so proud of this, Main character is an RK800 but he's not Connor, Poor RK800, REALLY WHUMPY, Recovery, Torture, Zlatko is a jerk and I hate him, adjustment, android experimentation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-01-24 01:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 90,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21329644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyberlife_Creed_28/pseuds/Cyberlife_Creed_28
Summary: He didn't even have time to open his eyes before a feeling he had never experienced before swallowed his chest whole, making him gasp out a troubled breath. He involuntarily jerked away in an attempt to escape the sudden damage, but whatever the cause of this new terribly unwelcome feeling was determinedly kept digging inside of him.  His arms were being pressed down onto a cold surface, restraining any chances of escape no matter how hard he fought against them. He’d be silently screaming through every slice into his exposed chest, desperate for a chance to stop whatever this stinging as though entrapped in a beehive.“You’re finally active?” A voice spoke up through the darkness. “Good, good. I was starting to get bored anyway.”Or, activating two years ago on Zlatko's table, an RK800 model waits his death. He nearly gives up all hope before a little girl is thrown into his room, and he finds that there's more to existence than the cold of an operation table. The girl gives him a hope he didn't know was possible, and when her android mother comes to their rescue, he embarks on a journey that he will not soon forget. Perhaps in time, he may find out why his thirium pump flutters when they smile at him.
Relationships: Adam Chapman & Rose Chapman & Kara & Alice Williams, Kara & Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human), Kara & Connor, RK800 & Connor, RK800 & Hank Anderson & Kara & Alice, RK800 & Rose Chapman, RK800 & Zlatko Andronikov, RK800/Kara
Comments: 38
Kudos: 101





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So glad you took the time to read this! I'm still totally new to this whole 'writing to the public' thing, so kindly let me know if there's any mistakes. So this chapter is kinda dark, but I can't handle doing too much torture, so this is the worst it's gonna get, so bear with me. So basically, I made a few small changes. For one, Luther doesn't exist. DON'T KILL ME YET, I HAVE A REASON!! The reason why is because I love Luther and I couldn't handle myself if I hurt him, so for his sake and mine, he's enjoying his life as a construction worker. I replaced him with another XL so you don't have to imagine me doing the things I plan to do with this other guy. If you haven't read the tags yet, this is a complete Connara tale, so anyone who doesn't support this ship can walk away now. I for one thing live for these two and it breaks my heart how they're not being noticed like they should. 
> 
> So if you skipped the big paragraph (which most of you probably did, don't lie), here's a rerun; Luther isn't with Zlatko, explicit torture, and if you don't like this ship, then just leave. Okay? Okay.
> 
> This story is nearly done, and every second I'm not doing it is torture. Just a warning, it is a LOOOOONG story, and I'm nearing 56,000 words, and I'm not even done yet. So I'll send it chapter by chapter to see if you guys like it enough for me to send more. STAY SAFE PEEPS!! CONNARA FOREVER!!

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He didn't even have time to open his eyes before a feeling he had never experienced before swallowed his chest whole, making him gasp out a troubled breath. He involuntarily jerked away in an attempt to escape the sudden damage, but whatever the cause of this new terribly unwelcome feeling kept digging inside of him. His breaths were far too fast for something that had just come online, making him sound like a beached fish trapped in a desert highway. His arms were being pressed down onto a cold surface, restraining any chances of escape no matter how hard he fought against them. He’d be silently screaming through every slice into his exposed chest, desperate for a chance to stop whatever this stinging as though entrapped in a beehive. He couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes and look around, shrinking into himself in the hopes of disappearing into the substance below him and never coming back.

“You’re finally active?” A voice spoke up through the darkness behind the android’s eyelids, sounding to be right on top of him. He fought against the urge to open his eyes, too afraid he may see some monster made by humans. “Good, good. I was starting to get bored anyway.”

The knife in his chest had halted finally, and he found himself wheezing in relief, only to do his best to hold down tears as the after effects of whatever this man did to him let up given the pause. He was gasping as his chest didn’t seem to have enough air to circulate through his system, pushing against the restraints violently as they cut into his wrists.

“Don’t bother,” the voice said in a completely normal tone as if talking to his neighbor about yesterday’s football game rather than the writhing machine being tortured underneath him. “Those restraints have held down much stronger than you, and will continue to do so long after you’re gone.”

“Wh...who...are...” the machine wheezed hoarsely, his voice chip clearly damaged as it glitched wildly.

“Zlatko,” the man revealed the name with such a bland tone that he supposed he must have said that maybe hundreds of times now. “I’d ask for yours, but what’s the point of a name when you clearly won’t need one?”

He pressed even harder against the straps, but even his inhuman strength couldn’t break them. He felt the fifty alerts in his sights, warning him of the damages in this chest, and the stress levels that were beginning to overwork his already weak thirium pump. Water was in his sealed shut eyes, but he didn’t dare let them free out of this buried urge of pride that demanded that this man didn’t deserve his tears.

“You’re a quiet one,” Zlatko noted, sickeningly sounding almost impressed. “Usually I’d be hearing you begging to be let go by now.”

The android still kept his mouth shut, scared that it may come out as a sob or a scream. At the moment he couldn’t decide which. Instead, he remained silent and did his best to not think about the stinging venom burning through his torso. Then again, how could he think about anything else? How could a passenger on a sinking ship not think about drowning, or a man in a cage of tigers not think about claws and fangs? He did his best to make sure his chest rose steadily no matter how much it felt like a red forged knife in his components.

“I'll admit, android,” Zlatko spoke up, “you were the hardest android to get my hands on in the sixteen years I’ve been doing this. I mean, the rarest android model revealed to man right here on my table! The fact that I was lucky enough to find you in a dump in salvageable condition still blows my mind. I'm genuinely surprised you’re functioning now. I mean, all I really needed were your bio components, but now....”

He paused for effect, and boy did it make the android tense as he had to wait for what this twisted lunatic had in mind. A dark chuckle emanated from the room, and it made cold ice travel down his spine.

“.. well, I may as well find out why you’re so special. While you’re still active, I mean.”

His hands curled into fists as he desperately tried to break the cuffs holding his arms down, feeling what humans called the fight-or-flight response; wanting to either break free and blow a punch or just scramble to the exit and hope to get away as fast as he could. The adrenaline rush was building up fast, and felt his arms flex in an extra amount as he pressed even harder. He grit his teeth in a desperate attempt to break free, giving any power he could into his arms to break the restraints.

“I’ve always found it fascinating how a machine reacts to its system being torn apart,” he informed with awe in his tone, making the android sick. “They were designed to look so human that Cyberlife even went as far as simulating pain. It’s amazing how I could be torturing a real human being by how realistic you deviants react to this.”

To prove his point, Zlatko jabbed a blade into his arm, making the android grunt, the pain building as he slid it down his arm, making the victim bite his lip with such strength to refrain from screaming that he was close to ripping it off entirely. The blade slipped off his arm by the time it reached his wrist, leaving a clearly nasty gash bleeding thirium if the warm drips sliding down his arm were anything to go by.

“Most of the time I have to remind myself that there’s no pain,” he pointed out, “the only thing you’re feeling right now are numbers and codes giving out the command for you to simulate being in pain. You may think otherwise, but I know you androids. Ever since this deviancy crap started spreading, you lot would do anything to get pity from humans, even by pretending that you actually feel any of this.”

He couldn’t bring himself to listen to too much of his words as he was trying to push against the cuffs, drawing blood in his wrists by the pressure. Surprisingly, the longer this sicko kept rambling, the more the android could catch small details in the situation that could have the ability to help him. The man was talking; a fortunate sign that he wasn't catching this man's full attention. The thumping leather footsteps on the floor paced at the same time as his speech, so he was pacing around as he was talking, and since his voice wasn't as clear as it would be if he were facing him, he was looking away from him during his little monologue, lost in his own cruel and twisted world, which would be perfect to giving him the element of surprise if he could break free. He supposed by the fact that the bounds on his wrists were giving out that they were finally setting loose, and it was the most beautiful discovery he’d ever seen in his life. He could have enough time to make a break for it if he ran fast enough. There was no way to map out his surroundings; unfortunately; since something in the air was jamming his scanners, but he could break for the door. Then again, the odds of him finding a way out of somewhere he had no way to navigate was 35%. As hopeless as those chances were, at least they were a chance. Making his final choice, he acted as fast as his model could allow by breaking the restraints with one final yank, slipping off the table, collapsing onto the floor.

“HEY!!” His suddenly furious voice bellowed into his ear, and he involuntarily popped open his eyes to see a blurry figure marching his way, and out of instinct, brought his fist out to meet the first face he saw, and he heard a successful cry in result as he scrambled towards the nearby door.

“GET BACK HERE!!” Zlatko roared behind him. Hardly any oxygen was reaching his ‘lungs’ as he ran as fast as he could down a long hallway. He heard something else from him, but being a few rooms down from him, it was muffled and unclear. As looking at the area for a millisecond to record his observation, he noted that this wasn’t some concrete base underground like he was fearing, but rather a poorly treated mansion, decorated with fancy furniture and collectibles, as if that could distract from the cracking and muddy walls and molding floors. A fancy carved wood stairway led down to the bottom floor, and from his view above the ground, he spotted a fancy glass rimmed door on the other side, far too fancy to be just a doorway into another room, and his hopes spiked as he knew that that was his way out of this torture. He raced down the stairs, missing three steps at a time to get down faster. His damages were agonizing with every step he took, but he only ran faster to get to safety from this psychopath.

Stomping onto the bottom floor, he tripped momentarily but easily picked himself back up as he bolted for the exit, saying the same mantra in his head over and over. **I’m going to make it. I’m going to make it. I’m going to make it. I’m going to make it.** He was only a few meters away from leaving this cursed mansion behind before he saw a flash of black swooped in in front of him. Before he could move out of the way, the flash had slammed into his face with the strength of a car, and he could do nothing about it as he flew backwards, landing flat on his back as static nearly covered his eyesight.

It was like his body was in slow motion after that. Everything that he tried to move was delayed as he desperately tried to at least crawl to the door, and even though his chances were now at a flat out zero, he couldn’t bring himself to give up. It appeared, unfortunately, that he didn’t have a choice as a large figure stomped in front of him, and dread boiled in his gut at what he saw. A large XL model, at least 6’6 and buried in muscle, looking down at him with dead beady eyes that held absolutely no emotion. Despite the android towering above him, he still tried getting off his side and commando crawling away from him in this foolish hope that he would let him pass, hating how the pain in his open chest was about to make him cry. There was no air in his system at all now as he felt a warning that his body was beginning to overheat from a mix of the damage, stress, and lack of air to regulate temperature. At first the machine didn't move at all, and he had this foolish thought that maybe he glitched out and he'd be able to move past him. His hope was quickly crushed as he felt the android’s leg launched into his shoulder, forcing him back onto his back with a cry, and with a speed he didn’t know was possible, a hand that could close a football in his fist had latched onto his neck with a brutal strength, effectively blocking out what little air he could receive.

He reflexively gagged, and could do nothing as the XL model lifted him up like he was a pile of feathers, the crushing hand make his throat feel like it was being twisted by blistering hot metal pliers. Almost with the same weight as a rag doll, the large android was merciless as he suddenly threw the poor victim into the wall with a large crack, pinning him too the wall.

His eyes were bulging wide as he gasped for air but could receive none, uselessly trying to pull the arm off of him in a desperation to get even a little air. He tried kicking his gut in hopes he’d loosen his hold, but it was as effective as kicking a tree. If his throat was bad enough, his open chest was taking it worse as pythons were slithering inside his chest and crushing his bio components like soda cans. Black was lining the edges of his vision, and he knew that this was where he’d shut down. He helplessly heaved weakly for oxygen, but it was pointless as fighting a bear with toothpicks. His eyelids were involuntarily closing on their own no matter how much he tried to pry them open, and he was so close to going into shut down before a voice entered his ears.

“Let it go,” the same voice he was dreading, dark and amused at the situation, and he knew there was nothing good coming for him after this as the last part of his order came out as an enraged snarl. “I want it alive.”

Almost like flicking a switch, any pressure on his neck was gone as he collapsed to the ground, gasping and roughly coughing at the sudden perfect air going through his nose and mouth. It was tensely silent as he struggled to get his oxygen levels back up after them being so low for such a long time, Zlatko waiting in front of him like a wolf waiting for the perfect moment to strike its prey. He didn’t know what hurt worse: the pain or the wait.

Eventually, his breath evened out as he huffed out the now steady air levels going through his system. But the shadow of the XL model had moved away from him, and was replaced with a much smaller, more wider shadow. With tired eyes, he raised his head up weakly to finally see his cruel captor face to face. His eyes were every definition of dark there was. These were the eyes of a man who lives for the hunt; of a man too far gone in his madness to be saved, and his joker-looking smile only added into showing how deep into it he was. With long raven black hair and a thick beard, the smell emanating off him filled his nose with a stomach twisting stench that suggested he didn't even bother to clean himself. He was larger in weight, his face dropping with fat that made even his wide smile seem too heavy to put up with ease, so it must have been a great accomplishment to pull it off now.

“You really thought you could escape me so easily?” He teased with a mad look in his eye, looking the android dead in the eye. “Courageous attempt, I’ll admit. But there is one thing i haven’t told you.”

He was too busy looking Zlatko in the face that he hadn’t noticed the pistol in his hand. And with a ear splitting BANG, a bullet tore through his knee, the scream too sudden to stop as a whole new level of pain erupted from his leg. His scream was loud and piercing, and he didn’t need to look to know that this monster was sneering in enjoyment by his suffering. He felt like he had fallen and twisted his leg on a large pile of broken bricks as he pointlessly tried covering it with his hands to stop the bleeding, a pitiful mix of a sob and a howl clawing out of his throat. A hand was suddenly fisting his hair and painfully yanking his head up to look at the monster with tearful eyes.

“YOU CANNOT ESCAPE FROM ME!!” He bellowed in his face. “YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE OUTSIDE OF THESE WALLS AGAIN, AND YOU WILL BEG FOR ME TO KILL YOU BY THE TIME IM DONE WITH YOU!!”

As if to prove his point, he felt another shot pierce his already damaged knee, and he was screaming all over again. He didn’t need to look at it to know that his leg was going to be useless after this, and he may never walk again. His mask of bravery was long gone as he openly cried at the needles stabbing his leg and the aching in his chest. The psychopath had thankfully released his head and he slumped back to the floor like a puppet without its strings, gripping his leg with both hands as if his touch might magically repair it.

“I’m done here for today,” he said calmly now, as if his outburst had never happened. “Show it to its room, Rex. I’ll pick it up for the next session tomorrow.”

Obeying its master, the large XL carelessly clutched one of the android’s arms, dragging it across the floor as their victim lost any fight inside him from the throbbing pain in his leg, not noticing how he was leaving a trail of thick blue thirium across the filthy floor. He didn’t pay attention to his surroundings as a way to map out an escape, and all his thoughts just kept circling back to the pain his now inoperable limb was causing. He didn’t know how far away that room was from where he was going, and he didn’t have the thought to count, only searching of ways he could possibly make the agony go away. He let the XL throw him harshly into an unknown room, locking the door behind him. It was only there did the android allow himself to fully cry over his leg, gritting his teeth as sobs split through. He never thought an android could know what hell was. Now he knew. This was it. This was hell and he would never be able to get out.

What did he do wrong, he cried like a child? What did he do to deserve this pain? He may not remember this time before waking up here, but he was almost positive that whatever he did couldn’t have gotten him to deserve this nightmare. It was there he cried until his energy levels would drag him down, and he embraced every second of not feeling anything, even if it was for a little while. After all, it wouldn't be long until a lifetime of only God knows what awaits him once Zlatko and his pet come for him again.


	2. The Sliver of Hope

The RK800 didn’t know how long he’d been in that place. It felt like a thousand lifetimes in human terms when it had only been two short years, but it sure as hell didn't feel like that long. During that time, he’d been through things that not even hell could dream of. He’d been torn apart, mauled by his large damaged polar bear machine, poisoned, strangled, whipped, thrown off a roof, branded, amputated, crippled, mocked, beaten, and everything in between.

He had changed during his captivity in Zlatko's hold. He didn't need a mirror to see that abuse after abuse, it changed him, and it certainly wasn't for the better. He knew by the way that his vision was ember orange, as vibrant as the parking lights in a car in a pitch black evening. If you had seen him before everything, and saw him now, you would have doubted that this was the same android given he was near unrecognizable as his nose and above had its plastic shell ripped out, and only his black endoskeleton underneath the absent plastic shell peered through. His eyes were nearly useless, and only one was considered operational, glowing a vivid lava orange to prove how damaged they were. The leg that had been shot twice should have killed him if it remained long enough, but Zlatko found that that was too easy of an escape, so he decided just to rip the thing clean off as Cayden squirmed helplessly, doing the bare minimum in the aftermath to keep him from bleeding to death. He was more white than actual skin at this point, and nasty scratches were as common as freckles; the worst being the three parallel scratches across his inactive eye from when Zlatko thought it amusing to throw him in with the polar bear, and a dislodged shoulder from his fall off his roof to ‘study just how strong and resilient you really can be’.

He knew at this point that Zlatko had nothing more to learn from him, and any day now he would lose interest and let him shut down and look for another subject. There were other victims in this mansion that he never had the chance to meet, but he didn’t want them to suffer more than they already were, so he would always make himself more entertaining to torture in the hopes that he’d give the others more time. He knew well enough that Zlatko absolutely loved when his subjects didn't just lay down and deactivate. He loved the rebellion in the RK800’s eyes and would work harder and harder every day to demolish it. He made himself more a target as he was eventually grown used to the pain of being tortured, and could eventually learn to live with the constant aching in his new and old injuries. It was the same thing every day: wake up, get dragged by Rex; his guard dog XL android; drop into whatever operation he feels like doing that day, get thrown back in, treat the worst injuries as much as possible, and repeat. It was almost maddening how predictable the days had become, blurring together like a long line until he could barely discriminate between night and day. Thing never changed in this place, and if they did, it would only make the spiral of suffering run deeper, so as crazy as it sounds, common rounds of torture were close enough to what he could call a good day. And surely enough, there was change today. However, for the first time, he found that it truly could be a change for the better.

Even from a distance away, he could hear Zlatko’s stomping footsteps coming his way, and he unconsciously tensed in a wave of submissive terror and scrambled underneath a desk while bracing himself for whatever was to come. It was odd when the man himself had come to pick him up, since he always let his pet XL do all the hard work for him, so it must have been a really bad day and was anxious for a way to release the stress. The only difference was that there was something off about the sound of the footsteps. Aside from the obvious clopping leather boots, there was a more padded sound that was faster in pace, and his brows furrowed gently so as not to disturb any injuries. He didn’t have time to ponder it much before the wooden door was slammed open and yellow light traveled in, and like a turtle, he fearfully closed in on himself, trying to appear as small as possible, sealing his eyes shut and risking crushing his own body by how tight he curled up.

“You stay down here,” Zlatko’s cold voice snarled, and a moderate thump travelled across the room. “I’ll get to you real soon.”

Just as quick as he came, the door was slammed shut and locked, and any light was gone from outside the room, and he expected there to be a new android pounding on the door, insisting to be released. After all, he seemed to always have his way to reel unfortunate victims into his home by sweet talk and false promises to let these persecuted androids reach safety. Soft cries echoed the room; a sound that was common as traffic in a New York apartment. He of all people would know since that’s all he ever heard in this place.

Still feeling skittish, he hesitantly crawled out of his 'hiding spot' and went to see just who was sharing this room with him. He didn't trust himself to make a sound, so he was silent as he grit his teeth and tried to push down the pain that was in disturbing his damages. The closer he became, the more he noticed that something was slightly off in the cries of the newcomer. He didn't know how, but the weeping didn't sound..... like an adult's? No, these were the cries of a voice that still had time to grow and was far from being completely matured. Feeling curious, he peeked his head out of the side of a worn couch separating the two, and he would never have guessed what he had seen as his entire body went stiff and an anvil dropped into his stomach, his damaged eyes growing three sizes at the pitiful sight only ten feet away. A small little girl, hugging her knees to her chest due to the lack of a stuffed animal, was crying out hopelessly.

She was so small, he observed in awe, and once his sketchy vision settled down enough, he barely spotted brown hair tied into a messy ponytail and a bright pink jacket. Even in the darkness it stood out brightly, and it almost hurt his eye to look at it.

How could a human be so small? he found himself wondering. How could living beings designed to be their masters be so fragile and delicate in the beginning of their lives? He may not know much about humanity, but he knew he would never quite understand just how complicated they could be.

The android had no idea where it came from, but something inside his components sunk at the sight of her being so sad. Though it was far from the most unpleasant thing he'd ever felt, it still felt like a kick to the gut seeing someone who should be in school and playing with stuffed dolls being stuck in a nightmare like this. It also made an entire new level of hate course through his weary wires to the man who was low enough to even experiment on human children. He'd have thought even Zlatko would have limits for who he could and couldn't torture. Unfortunately, even children weren't too cruel to abuse. Somehow hating the sight of the young girl crying, he had this feeling that maybe he shouldn't just leave her there. He may not know a thing about her, but he wasn't the kind of guy to leave someone to suffer. Not if he had a chance to stop it. He had an urge to press her behind him when the time for Rex or Zlatko barging in would come, and he had this desire to fight them off as best he can to protect her. Deciding that he had nothing to lose, he inched his way closer to the girl, trying not to appear to threatening, which seemed to be a useless idea since he looked like a demon that crawled out of the depths of Hades. That thought didn't come in mind until his glowing eyes warned the girl of his presence, and instead of being open minded like he was expecting, he saw the exact moment when fear clouded her red rimmed eyes as she quickly crawled away from him, looking too afraid to scream. At first he was a little confused, wondering why she would run from him until....... oh.

He should have known that he must look horrific after all that happened to him. He knew children were much more prone to be scared given their lesser control over their emotions, so he should have known. He supposed he should have thought this through, because he still had a little girl who was looking at him like she would if the monster in her closet had finally made a reveal, and he had no idea how to comfort her. He knew absolutely nothing about children, so how did he think that this would be a good idea to walk up to her and introduce himself like he wasn't a demonic looking creature that would be capable of hiding needle teeth and a snake tongue.?

"I'm...." he started, in that same unsteady and hoarse voice that hadn't said words in a long time, "I'm sorry, little girl... I didn't mean to scare you."

She was still hiding away, watching him like she was expecting him to lash out. If he looked even half as bad as he was probably imagining, he couldn’t have blamed her. So he tried thinking of ways to get her to trust him. Maybe if he had a peace offering of some sort, he could get her to calm down. He learned after a second long study that children's minds clicked on gifts, and he decided that there wasn't really much to lose. Sadly there wasn’t a lot in this room he could offer that he imagined a child would enjoy, unless you count rats and bloody rags a good gift(which he heavily doubted). Although...

An idea came into his head as he slowly backed away and crawled towards the corner of his room where a forgotten and beyond filthy stuffed dog lay. You could hardly tell what it was at first glance, and the seams were ready to rip and release all of the cotton inside it, but it would have to do. Why it was there, he would never know, and he didn't want to think about how it might have belonged to another child victim from before his time here. Shaking that thought out of his head, he limped his way back towards the child who still backed away with a sharp gasp, but he kept a respectful distance from her so as not to invade on her space.

“This is for you,” He said quietly, doing his best to smile, though it felt like such an alien force on his face and most likely looked more like a sneer. He slid the stuffed animal to the girl, who still closed in on herself but did seem interested in the dog that was an arm’s distance away. He was patient as she was torn between looking at him and the doll, and for a little while, she sat still, unmoving besides her chocolate eyes that darted between the android and dog. Finally, she deemed the dog not rigged and picked it up with a shaking hand, looking at every detail like she was expecting to see a bomb strapped on its stomach. After a few tense minutes, he finally did see her bunched up shoulders lower as she held the dog in her lap, accepting the offering.

He wanted to huff out a breath of relief, but he was far from being considered trustworthy. So maybe if he tried talking to her, he could break the ice a little.

“That’s.... that's a very nice jacket you’re wearing,” he complimented, gesturing to said jacket that was drenched with water and mud and seemed very uncomfortable for wear. The next thing he found himself wondering was what she was even doing here in the first place anyway. Where was her family? What brought her to this house of nightmares? He wanted to ask questions, but the fact that she hadn't responded to anything yet proved that they weren't at the stage where he could freely ask questions. The girl seemed skeptical, but she was considering the compliment. This was honestly the closest he'd ever been to another being that wasn't Zlatko or his guard dog, and honestly he had mixed feelings on how it felt after all this time being alone. It was somewhat relieving having someone else to talk to without having to beg for mercy, but then again, what the hell was he supposed to talk about? The football game friday night? What their favorite animals are? He didn't know any of that crap!

“What is your name?” He decided to start with that to be safe, wishing that he could start off with his own name, but he seriously doubted 'it', 'plastic', or 'RK800' would qualify as a name. Eventually he did get something from her, but it was far from what he was expecting:

“Are you a monster?” her high pitched tone stuck out like a sore thumb in the silence of the room.

He could have sworn he felt a painful pinch to his heart at how hurt he felt from the question. Part of it was being referred as an actual monster instead of just thinking it himself, but most of it was because he didn't even have a proper reply to give her because he didn't know the answer himself. WAS he a monster? Was he so far down the rabbit hole that he had become more crooked than he realizes? He wanted to say that of course he wasn't, but he couldn't help but wonder if this child knew more about him than he himself did.

“I’m an android,” He finally made out, not really answering her question, but not avoiding it either. “I’ve just been here a long time.”

“Does that man hit you?” The girl asked him curiously. _I wish that was all it was_, he thought, but he bit his tongue to keep down the long list of horrors that had happened to him because of that man.

“Yes, he does,” was his glum response, "all the time..."

“...My dad hits me, too,” she confessed skittishly, and there was this strange kick in his thirium pump when she said that.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said honestly.

“Kara helped me get away from him,” she said.

"Who's Kara?" he asked her.

"She looks out for me," was her teary reply, "we got on a bus, and it was cold when we had to get off. We had to sleep in a broken house, and this android person told us that we could come here for help.”

Dread pooled in his stomach. He instantly pitied the girl for being lured into this lunatic’s hands, and for some reason felt like wrapping his arms around her. He couldn’t really tell why, but it was an itch at the back of his mind that he pushed down.

“The man let us in and told us that Canada was a place where Kara and I could go without being hurt, and he took us into the basement to fix her.”

His heart sunk into his gut as he knew that scenario all too well, hearing that same excuse every time someone came in and being helpless to warn them. He didn’t need to know anymore to know what happened. All he needed to know was that any android who entered that basement never came out the same way again. **This girl is all by herself now**, he thought sadly, knowing too well that no one who entered that basement came back the same way. Maybe this Kara android would get lucky and he’d just keep her as a maid like he did with Rex. Even if she had to work with no memories, it’d have been better than having to live long enough to see herself become his little lab rat.

"She was hooked up to this scary machine and he said that she would forget about me.." the girl explained, her voice cracking ever so slightly, "she promised me she would never leave me.."

He had to sit there as the small girl began to cry again, covering her eyes with her hands and curling back into her little ball again, and the android was at a complete loss about what to do now. Was he supposed to come closer, or would that scare her? Was hugging her out of the equation? Was he supposed to sympathize with her? How was he supposed to do that if he had no idea what she was feeling at the moment?

“I’m sorry about your friend,” he said sincerely, seeing her eyes water. “I really am.”

“Why did he do that to her?” She weeped.

“He’s a very bad man,” he answered immediately, loving how fresh the insults taste in his mouth. “There are no words in english dictionary to explain how terrible of a man he is. He lures androids into this place and sells their parts, and if not, then.... then they end up like me.”

He spotted her stress levels rising slightly at the news, and she looked at him incredulously.

“Is Kara going to die?” She asked, and he wasn’t sure what answer to give her. Either she could get lucky and somehow deactivate before being forced to work with Zlatko, become reset and work as his mindless slave, or become an unwilling test subject and vulnerable to countless horrors. Either way wasn't exactly ideal, but dying now was the lesser of two evils.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I do know that until I do, I’ll keep you safe from that man. I want to help you.”

It was almost scary how almost all fear of him disappeared without a trace as she eventually scoot towards him slowly, and the android held his hands in front of him to prove to her he was safe to approach. Despite being unsure, she was a few feet away in front of him, and from another perspective it might have looked like they were about to play patty cake.

“What happened to you?” She asked him curiously. And since he got her this far in trusting him, he answered her with the most censored response.

“Well, I’m a very unique android,” he said, only knowing that because Zlatko would never shut up about it. “And he wants to know why I’m different than everybody else, and he does some very nasty things in order to find out.”

“I’m sorry he’s so mean to you,” she said apologetically, as if it was her fault this was happening to him.

“It's nobody's fault but his own,” he dismissed, "sooner or later, the consequences for his actions will come for him. It's nothing you need to worry about."

“Why do your eyes look like that?” the questions kept coming, and for the first time, the RK800 actually quirked up the tip of his mouth at the childlike innocence of this little girl. She wasn’t asking questions about his looks to be mean, but was just asking because she was genuinely curious. It was a little unexpectedly nice having someone that wasn’t suffering from brutal experiments and actually not thinking about the fear of when Zlatko will come for them again.

“My eyes are very damaged,” he explained. “I can’t see very well, but I can still see a variety of things.”

“Like what?”

She was wide eyed in interest while looking at him, and when he tapped his worn pant leg, he could feel the one quarter in his pocket; literally the only thing that he could call his own, and a bright idea came into his mind as he decided that he’d try impressing her with a special little trick of his.

“Well, I can see that you have a quarter behind your ear,” he said falsely, gesturing her left ear. The girl of course was very caught off guard.

“I do?” She asked curiously, digging into her ear in search for the quarter, and the android huffed out a breath that could be considered a chuckle.

“Here, let me get it for you,” he volunteered, leaning forward to reach her ear, right as he reached her line of vision he flicked his quarter into his hand. “Aaaand... got it.”

Leaning back while being mindful of the injuries, he showed her the supposed coin that was inside her ear, and he’d never seen something more pure than the childlike wonder in her eyes, like she was really seeing magic first hand.

“How did you...?” She exclaimed.

“I didn’t do anything. It was behind your ear,” he said with a small smile.

“What else can you do?” She asked with interest, and he was heart warmed when she scooted closer, and he considered other things he could do to impress her.

“It might not be as good, but I can also do this..”

With a skill he’d had long before he could remember, the coin began dancing through his fingers smoothly, slipping them into his palm once he finished lacing each finger and going for it again, and once that was done, gently fling it into each finger, enjoying how entranced the girl was on the coin. The clink of the coin was the loudest thing in the room as he finished the last of his trick by catching the quarter with only two fingers as the grande finale, and looking at the girl for a reaction. Surely enough, she had a smile on her face.

“That was so cool!” she exclaimed. “How did you do that?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he replied a little shyly. “I just woke up one day and was able to do this.”

“I couldn’t be able to do that,” she said in disappointment.

“Hey, I’m sure you can,” he refused. “It just takes practice is all.”

She didn’t seem to believe him, but she didn’t say anything to deny it.

“So what can _you _do?” Connor asked nicely.

“I can draw,” she shrugged, like it’s not a big deal.

“Really?” He wondered attentively. “What do you like drawing?”

“I like drawing animals,” she explained. “Especially bunnies.”

“I can understand why,” he agreed as he did a check in his mind as to what bunnies actually looked like, because, obviously, he’d never have seen one before this, so at this moment, he was a little blind as to that subject.

“I would show you, but I left them at my dad’s house,” she admitted.

“It’s no problem,” the android excused politely.

“What’s your name?” The girl asked him, and that left him feeling stumped for once. He doubted that RK800 would be something she considered a name since that was about the only thing that made him different than any other android. He hesitated in giving her an answer, and for a little girl, she seemed to understand what the silence was about.

“Do you not have a name?” she answered for him, and he skittishly nodded his head, looking down to his lap in what he supposed was shame. He expected to see pity on her face by the lack of a proper label, but instead she smiled at him like not having a name was no big deal.

“That’s okay,” she assured in a bright tone. “I can give you one. I’m good at giving names.”

“Really?” He wondered, honestly surprised by the offer, looking at her face again for any sign that she might be joking. Surely enough, her intentions were as honest as her presence.

“I named Kara, so I can name you, too,” she said. She propped her head up on her knuckles as her elbows pressed against her legs, and her eyes squinted like a kid without his glasses reading a book, and he was somewhat awkward about being stared at so heavily. The android could almost see the gears turning in her small head as she fished for some sort of name. Her nose scrunched adorably and her brows furrowed as she must have thought of something.

“What about.... Cayden?”

The android had no idea how it happened, but it was as if a button had been pressed, and suddenly he felt that that WAS his name.

“Cayden?” He said aloud, tasting how the word sounded in his mouth. It might have just been a name, but somehow it felt right being called that. He couldn’t help but lift the tips of his mouth slightly. “I like that.”

The girl’s eyes sparkled in appreciation, and she stuck out her hand in greeting. “Hello, Cayden. I’m Alice.”

He accepted the offered hand and shook it gently. “It’s nice to meet you, Alice.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

Time flew for the very first time as the two talked about everything, and for the first time the android; or rather, Cayden; had felt that he wasn’t fearing for his life or when Zlatko might arrive. At that moment, it was just Alice and him, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. She stopped looking at him like he was a monster, or an android to pity, but instead looked at him like a good friend who’d been lost by time. It was a refreshing observation, and he quickly vowed that he’d get this girl away from this monster’s clutches, even if it costed him his own life. Suddenly, he was more afraid for her than himself, and would fight back with everything he had left to keep her away from the disgrace of a human if he tried to lay his hands on her. Even if it meant more pain for himself.

Almost too soon did their talk become cut short as Cayden instinctively tensed at the warning of footsteps coming their way, and he knew that Zlatko was going to come for one of them. Alice seemed to notice this and the excitement in her eyes quickly faded like dust as their situation came back to them.

“Alice, get behind me,” he ordered her, and he grabbed her arm gently and pulled her behind him as he shielded her from the door. If they weren’t in a life or death situation, he’d have felt touched by the fact that she nuzzled into his back shyly as a means of trust. His clenched his fists tight, preparing to lash out to Zlatko like a rabid animal for even trying to take Alice away, even with the amount of damage his body was enduring. The footsteps were closer, and he was locked tight for the attack, just waiting for that psychopath to show his hideous face. The doorknob jerked, and the door was swung open, and just as he felt he was going to pounce, he halted immediately, his brows furrowing at the figure at the door.

This wasn’t Zlatko, or Rex, or any of his failed experiment victims. This was a woman; or rather, an android after a momentary second long scan that showed the blue blood running through her veins. What really stumped him was the fact that she was not damaged in any way at all: a feat hard to find in a place like this. Her hair was oddly white, close cropped while also leaving bangs hanging over one of the woman’s neon blue eyes. Cayden already knew the moment he saw her that she was no maid, or subject, given her face was expressive as she seemed jumpy and terrified but determined.

The moment she saw him, he saw her freeze, but it was when she saw the girl hiding behind his back when she snapped out of it.

“Alice?”


	3. Making a Choice

“Alice?” the android gasped in a breathless voice. Said girl popped her head up from his back, and quickly raced towards the woman.

“Kara!” She exclaimed while ramming into her. Cayden, in the other hand, was filled with awe. How the hell did she get past the claws? He was certain that that had never happened before, so how did she get past it? It was a question he was wanting to ask, but was too nervous from the hard stare this Kara android was throwing his way. It was the glare of a mother bear ready to strike for harming her cub, and given his most likely mutilated features, he could understand why she’d be cautious while keeping one hand wrapped around her child.

“I thought you forgot about me,” Alice confesses wetly. That was when the woman kneeled down to give her a proper hug.

“How could I forget about you?” She assured her, relief evident in her shaking voice. Her sights quickly met Cayden’s, as if warning him not to come any closer, and he had the sudden wish for the floor to swallow him whole to avoid the mother’s stare. Alice unwrapped eventually and seemed to catch her glare.

“He’s not a monster, Kara,” she defended him quietly. “He gave me a stuffed dog and showed me coin tricks and is really nice.”

The mother looked back to the girl and back to him, as if asking him to confirm what she said, and he skittishly nodded his head.

“We can trust him, Kara.”

That seemed to relax her a little bit, as she gave him a small nod as a thank you. “We have to go, Alice. He’s going to be coming here for you soon.”

“What about Cayden?” She cried. “Can’t we bring him with us? He’s been hurt by that man, and he’s been helping me ever since I was brought here.”

Kara seemed torn, and he could understand why she was hesitating. After all it’d probably be similar to letting a starved lion into your home if he did tag along with them. Despite the selfish part of him that wouldn't mind joining the two, he didn’t need to go with them. It was simple: he was accustomed to torture, but they weren't. So what better way to die than to ensure that Zlatko doesn't win the blood of an innocent girl and a protective android mother on his hands? He knew he’d shut down eventually, but at least then he’d be free of Zlatko’s hands.

“You don’t have much time,” he finally said. “He’s done this before. He’s going to use the XL to drag her into his torture room, so if you go now, you’ll be able to buy yourself some time. Don’t go for the front door; he always locks them when he’s working on a project.”

“Cayden, what about you?” Alice asked again, coming closer to him and crouching down to his level.

“I’ll be okay,” he lied. “I can buy you some time to escape. Stay out of range of Rex. He might be strong but he’s slow, so be quick around him and you’ll be able to pass by him.”

“No, I’m not leaving you behind!” Alice demanded, but was stopped by the real footsteps of the XL model coming their way, the same chill running down his scarred back.

“Kara, the bathroom,” Cayden gestured to the other door on the other side of the room. “It’s connected to the bedroom, and then to the hallway outside. If you follow it out, you can get to the main hall. Go for the back door; he never locks that door. Now go! Hurry!”

“What about you?” she questioned.

“I have adapted to his punishments. I’ll be fine, but you can’t waste any more time. Go!”

Despite Alice desperately latching onto Cayden, Kara reluctantly did lead both of them towards the door, with Alice pulling away in an attempt to rescue her friend from an inevitable fate. The door shut closed behind her just as Rex opened his, bleeding orange and yellow into the room once again. Cayden stared Rex dead in the eye in a new bravery he hadn’t felt since the beginning of this nightmare as the android was quick to deduct that Alice was gone, instantly turning to Cayden as his fear reactively built up, but remained calm outwardly.

“Where is the child?” Rex demanded. He kept his mouth shut as he burned a hole into the man’s cold eyes with a glare. Surely enough, the commotion brought Zlatko himself into the equation as he reached the same conclusion his guard dog did.

“Where the hell is the girl, RK800?” He snarled, coming into his space and latching onto the androids neck and crushing his throat yet again. He reflexively gagged at the pain, but didn’t stop his unblinking glare. “WHERE IS IT?!?”

He finally opened his mouth, choking out one sentence that he’d been dying to say since the first moment he woke up here.

“G-go... to... h-h-hell...”

In fury, the man had growled as he slammed Cayden’s head back into the wall with a loud SLAM, making his head static.

“You think because a little girl left the room you’re suddenly some hero, plastic?” He mocked. “I was going to do this the easy way, but you’ve left me no choice. Rex... bring it with us.”

On his command, a large hand was grabbing fistfuls of his hair and dragging him across the room harshly as Zlatko disappeared down the hall. He was desperate to fight back now despite how weak everything felt, but if this really was to be his last night, he’d go down making sure that two others could escape the life he woke up in. He looked around, trying to push down the pain on his head from the yanked hair, and was relieved to notice what looked like a cut rod with a sharp end. Acting as quick as he could muster, he swiftly gripped the metal rod and slammed the sharp end straight into the android’s wrist. It went straight through with a sickening rip, and a pour of thirium.

The XL’s grip had faltered, and Cayden used that opportunity to pull himself free, quickly crawling to the nearest room to escape. The towering man had quickly walked nonchalantly towards him, as if there wasn’t any rod running straight through his hand at the moment, and clawed at the quick android on the floor, missing each time as he’d roll out of range every time. One unfortunate time he was just barely too late, and the XL gripped his foot and was starting to drag him back. Thinking quick, he saw the burning fireplace an arms length away and spotted a fireplace fork that must have been left in the fire as it was blazing red. Latching onto the handle, he slammed it into the first thing he could spot in his range with a shout. To his horror, he found that the two forked blade had pierced straight into his forehead, and the XL was quickly twitching and malfunctioning from the heat and the damage. It let go immediately, and with a few final spasms, he collapsed to the ground in a dead heap.

Cayden stared wide eyed at the dead body as his breath started hitching exponentially. **I killed him**, he thought with terror. **I killed him. He’s dead. I killed him. It’s my fault. I killed him. I didn’t mean to. I killed him.**

It changed in his head as he couldn’t look away from the empty eyes that looked exactly the same as always, but with a metal rod jabbed into his head. He didn’t want to kill him. He didn’t mean to. All he wanted to do was disable him enough so he could run from him. He never wanted to strike a killing blow. He didn’t mean to. He didn’t mean to. He didn’t mean to.

His thoughts were interrupted by the bang of a shotgun and Alice’s terrified shriek, and he was snapped out of trance. They needed his help, and he could worry about this later. Unholstering the pistol in Rex’s belt, he found a single bullet. One bullet was all he would need, he thought. Slowing his breaths, he picked himself off the floor, sparing one last glance at his body, and hopped out on his one leg.

It was harder than he expected going down stairs on a single foot. Usually Rex would be dragging him down by his arm or his hair, but doing it himself was a little taxing. He reached the bottom floor eventually, and was thankful when he heard the back door slam, the sign that they had followed his directions. Hobbling to follow them, he saw by the door screen that Zlatko had them cornered, and was aiming a shotgun at Kara’s face as she shielded Alice protectively, looking scared.

“I warned you!” He bellowed to the two girls. “Dreams always end in tears.”

He wasted no time in racing towards them as fast as he could while avoiding being noticed by Zlatko. His back was turned towards him, so he had the perfect opportunity.

“You should have listened to me,” he snarled, pulling back the safety trigger and aiming at Kara’s face. That was the moment Cayden pressed the tip of the gun into Zlatko’s skull, pulling back his own safety trigger. He loved how he froze in surprise.

“You pull that trigger and I’ll show you what else can end in tears,” he snarled.

“What are you doing?” He demanded.

“Doing what I’ve been dreaming of since day one,” he said darkly. “Drop the gun.”

“You’ll pay for this, RK800,” he hissed, but doing what was told and dropped his gun.

“That’s not my name!” He intimidated in a loud voice, relishing how he saw the man flinch. “My name is Cayden.”

“Call yourself whatever you want, plastic,” Zlatko sneered. “I’m going to rip you apart limb by limb until you’re nothing but a piece of scrap on the side of the road. Just like all the others.”

“Like you said,” he said proudly. “I’m not like the others.”

He yanked Zlatko backwards until he was a fair enough distance away, with Cayden being the barrier between him and the two girls, never pointing the gun away from the twisted monster. What caught him off guard was the fact that he saw every single one of his victims, mutilated beyond repair in every way possible, crawling out of the basement like apocalyptic zombies, closing in on the human who still wasn’t aware of their entrance.

“You’re dead. You hear me?!” He yelled. “I’m going to kill you!”

“Don’t save a spot for me in hell,” Cayden said with a sinister tone, “I’m not coming anytime soon.”

That seemed to send his message as Zlatko heard the inhuman moaning of agony behind him, and saw all of his failed experiments closing over him with bloodlust in their eyes.

“What are you doing?” He demanded. “Who let you out?!”

They were closing in fast, and Cayden knew there was nowhere for him to run.

“OBEY ME!!” He commanded uselessly, like that would somehow erase the possibly years of torture they had experienced. “I’m your master!!”

There were sickening crack of bones as the android creatures began to strike with their full strength.

“IM YOUR MAST-AAUUUUGGGGHHH!”

The human disappeared behind the crowd of monsters, but the crunching of his bones and cry of his pain were echoing through the rainy night. They could have been pitiful had it been anyone else. Instead, counting out Kara who was forcing Alice’s face into her stomach and covering her ears and herself seeming close to crying, it was as pleasant as music to hear their tormentor feel at least a sliver of the pain he’d caused to everyone there. By the time the creatures had been satisfied, Zlatko’s disfigured self had long since gone silent, and the androids had settled back into the mansion, most likely for shelter for the night. Lowering his gun at last, he found himself relaxing in a way that he didn’t remember feeling in his life. The harbinger of pain was gone, and he’d be free of him for the rest of his life. He could live his life now. He could be free.

Alice was breathing quickly behind him, and he turned slowly to look at the two girls watching him, the older one hiding Alice in a fear that he may go after them next. Deciding there was no more need for it, he tossed the pistol away from him, not bothering to watch where it landed. It appeared to be enough for Alice as she eventually loosened her hold without letting go.

“Are you two alright?” He asked them softly. Kara uncertainly nodded, most likely shaken from the recent ordeal.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he apologized sincerely, any trace of that staunch creature he’d been created to be gone without a trace as he spoke with nothing but concern and kindness. Kara did seem to be relaxing a little as he didn’t look like he was going to pounce immediately. So instead, he decided maybe giving them somewhere to go would help them.

“I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me,” he said shyly, “but I’ve heard the others talking about someone who helps androids across the border. I can take you to her.”

Kara’s eyes perked up slightly at the mention of the border, since that was clearly their new goal after their failure of a cry for help in this place. He waited patiently for a reply from her, willing to wait hours in the same spot to get an answer.

“Okay,” She said, and Cayden felt his thirium pump jump slightly. “I trust you.”


	4. The Park

The drive through the automotive cab was a silent one, with Alice asleep in the back seat and Kara and Cayden in the front and watching through the glass as the world flew past them. He’d be lying if he said that his damages weren’t starting to fight back with a terrible aching and a drilling headache now that the adrenaline rush was over, and he was dying to close his eyes and enter the first peaceful rest mode in a long time, and not wake up in a dark and molding room and waiting for Rex to claw him up again. As tempting as it was, he knew he had a promise to keep, and he needed to show them to this Rose Chapman that his fellow survivors talked about. He didn’t hear much about it; only that there was a compassionate human who took androids in and had thirium and medical supplies and would help them cross into Canada. He couldn’t find himself to believe their hopeful plans to meet her once they escaped, but now that he was free, the thought of living his life the way he wanted sounded too good to be true. But any small hope was better than no hope at all, and if this turned out to be another trap... he wouldn’t know what he’d do.

“Why were you protecting Alice?” Kara suddenly spoke up in a quiet tone for her daughter’s sake. It wasn’t a pressuring question, but was most likely asked out of plain curiosity “When I opened that door, you were protecting her. Why?”

Cayden was a little frightened, feeling like this was more of an interrogation, and any wrong word could get him thrown out of the car. His hands unconsciously found his quarter as he nervously laced them through his fingers on his lap.

“Uh....” he stuttered with anxiety. “Because.. I-I.... just...”

“I’m not mad or anything,” she assured him with a small smile. “I’m just wondering.”

Not sure if he should take that seriously or not, he decided to just spit it out and deal with the consequence.

“Because the first thing I can remember is waking up on that monster’s table while he was cutting inside of me. Ever since then, I’ve lived with being ripped apart in every way possible, waking up from rest mode every morning wondering if this morning would be my last. Not that I minded, of course. Of all else, I was pleading for the day my body finally failed me, and I could get away from that psychopath. Then....”

The tip of his mouth curled ever so slightly, and he wasn’t even sure if Kara could see it. “One day a little girl comes into my room with me, and I’m not alone anymore. After I let her see me behind the scars and loss of skin, she didn’t seem to mind that I was so messed up, and even apologized for what happened to me like it was somehow her fault. I spent only RA9 knows how long in that room, talking about animals, weather, what kind of school Alice wanted to be in, drawing, coin tricks, and everything but the fact that we both could die today. After what felt like years being trapped in hell, I met a smiling little girl who gave me a name and saw the real me. It’s like she’s......... like she’s a sigh of relief.”

Kara was smiling gently after his little confession, and seemed satisfied with his answer.

“She is, isn’t she?” Kara agreed, eyeing the girl in the back. “Did she tell you about her father?”

He nodded. “She said that he hit her. How could anyone hurt such an innocent child?”

“I don’t know,” she answered. “It still blows my mind how some people can look at Alice and want to hurt her. She is the sweetest little girl I know. Well.. not that I know any more than one.”

They both chuckled quietly at that, and Cayden had to admit that Kara wasn’t bad company.

“So Alice named you, too?” She asked in an amused tone, and Cayden pulled up a small smirk.

“Yeah. It’s a nice change compared to being called RK800 all the time.”

“She’s the kind of girl that believes that everything on the planet should have a name. If she could, she’d name every speck of sand and dirt and give them all unique titles for the sake of individualism.”

“That’s very sweet,” he smirked.

“You have no idea.”

“Though I have noticed something.”

“What’s that?”

“Alice named you too, correct?”

“She did.”

“How does she come up with such names? I doubt there’s a lot of people in the world named Kara.”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” she admitted. “I never asked her why she picked it. The only think I know is that it’s Italian for ‘beloved’, or ‘dear’.”

“Really? I didn’t know that,” he exclaimed.

“Neither did I.”

After that there was a pleasant lull in conversation as the two just sat in their seats and watch the car run over the thick snowflakes and see the ground blanketed in sparkly white snow. Cayden couldn't help but stare in awe at the sight of white rain floating down in the sky like something out of a dream, his head resting on his arms as he looked out the side window at the white flaked pine trees and the flying snow flakes only a glass window away from being able to land on his face. He’d never seen snow before this, and though he easily could have brought up pictures of it on the internet, it was more remarkable seeing it fall with his own eye.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She said the unspoken thought aloud, also looking at the snow.

“It really is,” he agreed, not looking away. “I never thought I’d see it myself.”

The conversation paused there, and he was content in staring at the puffs of snow floating onto the ground, the sparkling white reminding him of an android with its synthetic skin disabled, shining in the light like it was glowing. It was a quite odd similarity, but he found he didn’t quite mind.

“You were in that place a long time, weren’t you?” Kara eventually asked, and he felt his blue blood run cold. Even the mention of that place made his thirium pump feel crushed and that instinctive chill screaming DANGER DANGER run down his neck. He gulped nervously.

“Yeah,” Cayden confirmed with a suddenly dry throat. “I was.”

She probably heard the hoarseness in his response, because she didn’t say anything else about the matter. Instead, she picked a better topic to consider.

“So you’re free now,” she said positively. “What are you thinking about doing?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he confessed. “I mean, what can I do while I’m looking like this? And I don’t know if I’m any good at anything since I don’t remember a thing from my life before this, so I can’t really accomplish anything right now. What about you?”

“Well, I haven’t really thought that far ahead yet,” she explained. “I’ve been so focused on just finding a place where we could live without being punished just for existing that I haven’t really thought about what we’d do once we actually got there.”

“What are you thinking then?”

“Honestly...” Kara took a moment to think. “I think I’d start by working at a cafe. I have making coffees and other drinks in memory since i was designed for housework, and I feel like i could make decent money if I work hard enough.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

“I hope so.”

She had just finished her sentence when the power in the car suddenly shut off, and the roar of the engine had silenced completely, and they both frowned in confusion when the car had eventually slowed to a stop, leaving them on the side of an abandoned road where they both knew nobody would be traveling at this time.

Alice stirred once the car stopped, rubbing her eyes as she sat up from her make do bed on the car seats.

“Kara? Cayden?” She asked. “Are we there?”

“Not yet, Alice,” Cayden told her. “Stay here. I’ll go see what happened.”

Opening the car door, he pulled himself out into the brisk cold air, thankful of the leather coat, scarf, and beanie that he had taken from a lost and found before hiring a cab, seeing as though the chilling air couldn’t pass through his thick clothing, and as such was kept warm. Hopping his way over to the front, he tapped the hood twice, and the result he got was similar to opening a cooking grill as black smoke smacked into his face, causing him to fan his hand in an attempt to clear it while coughing softly a few times.

Of course, as he expected, by the time the smoke cleared out enough to see, he didn’t need to scan to see that it was pointless trying to revive the car. The entire circuitry was toast, and any attempt at fixing it could risk it setting on fire. Not a very good place to break down when they were in the middle of nowhere. Another car door slammed shut, and he spotted Kara coming to the front of the car as well.

“The engine overheated,” he explained. “We could risk setting the whole car on fire if we try repairing it. We’ll have to go on foot.”

Her eyes sunk a little at the news, but she quickly turned to see Alice shivering in the car.

“Alice won’t last long in this cold,” she said worriedly. “We need to find a place to spend the night.”

“We could stay here and hope the car will be enough,” Cayden suggested.

“No,” she denied. “No, the air conditioning went out with the car. The car will be just as cold inside as the outside.”

“There’s got to be something we can do,” he insisted, but as it turns out Kara’s sights were from further behind him, looking at something from a distance. Following her gaze, he froze at the sight that Kara was looking at. From the tip of the trees, there was an odd shape peering from the top, clearly not natural. It took a little while for him to discern what it was, but he did his best. It was a large circle the size of a small building, lined on the inside with strips of black keeping it in place, meeting into the center to make what looked like a star. A small black box was placed evenly in every few spots on the edge of the circle, and if he looked hard enough, he’d spot them swinging softly in the breeze. Kara beat him to it before he could make it out.

“A Ferris Wheel.”

“What’s it doing in a place like this?” He wondered.

“Where there’s a Ferris wheel, there’s an amusement park.”

“And that means shelter,” he finished. “It’s only a few minutes out, so if we hurry, we could make it before Alice gets sick.”

“Good idea,” she conferred. “Could you go get her?”

Feeling a little warm inside that she was trusting him with her daughter, he didn’t need to be told twice as he limped towards Alice who was hugging her body tightly despite the thick coat he found for her.

“Hey, Alice,” he greeted her. “Are you doing okay?”

“I’m cold,” she said miserably. It was almost like a command inside his head as he found himself shrugging off his leather coat and sliding them off his shoulders.

“Here,” He said gently, wrapping it around her small frame.

“But what about you? Won’t you get cold?” She refused, looking at him in concern, and somehow Cayden’s bio components felt like they were going to melt in warmth.

“I’ll be okay,” he promised, and though she seemed a little unsure, she allowed him to finish sliding her small arms through the too long sleeves. The coat was far too big for her, but she stopped shivering at least, so he took that as a win.

“Alice, we can’t stay here,” he informed her, “the car broke down, but there’s a place up ahead that might have shelter.”

Luckily, she was quick to slide off the car, hugging the coat that could have fit like a gown to her closer to her body as she walked forward to Kara up ahead. What he didn’t tell either of them was how bad his damages were starting to become irritating instead of just achingly bearable. What was left of his leg had begun to numb, and he could barely move it himself. The scratches on his face constantly felt like ice was digging into it, and now it felt like it was going to stab right through his skull. His dislocated shoulder sent a wave of pain at even the attempt of moving, and despite his resistance to pain, he doubted that he’d be able to help too much for long. The only good thing was that his good eye was still working and he could still see fairly well, so he decided that unless he was paralyzed, he could still help them, and they didn’t need to know about a few small setbacks. So, taking a deep breath, he pushed himself back onto his one leg and joined up with the two girls.

Unfortunately for him, Kara seemed to catch something from him once she got close enough to him. It was that same look a mother would give her child while their hand was stuck in the cookie jar. It was a look he wanted to shy away from.

“Do you need help?” She asked him, clearly noting how he was living off one leg and having no support anywhere to keep him up.

“No, I’m okay,” he declined politely. “But thank you.”

He felt like some higher power up there wanted to mock him as he tripped like an idiot at that perfect moment, unable to do anything about it as he fell flat on his face while disturbing the other wounds as he stifled a cry.

“Cayden!” Alice exclaimed, kneeling down to meet him.

“I’m okay,” he lied through this teeth. “I just slipped is all.”

“Here,” Kara said, grabbing his good arm and pulling him up to his foot, and once he was steady enough, she wrapped her arm under his to give him enough support to walk.

“It’s fine,” he kept refusing. “You don’t have to do this.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. “But I want to.”

He involuntarily froze at that statement, caught off guard by her words that sounded very casual, but felt like a miracle to him. In all the time at Zlatko’s house of nightmares, he’d never had anybody who wanted to help him. He’d never had anybody to treat his wounds after every test but himself, and that clearly cost him since it was obviously a terribly done job. He’d never heard that word come out of anyone’s mouth; or at least not to him. So to have someone willing to help him after a long time or doing it on his own, it was turning the world he knew upside down.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked again, noting how he stopped.

“Yeah, I’m...” he hesitated. “Just...... never mind. It’s nothing.”

Cayden was thankful that she didn’t push him as he accepted the sudden help as he leaned some of his weight on her, feeling slightly guilty for having to do this to her, and limped towards the nearby park.

It was honestly the easiest he’d walked in a long time. His foot was spared on a great amount of pressure as both Alice and Kara held onto him by both sides, lowering the amount of pain in his overworked leg that felt ready to snap right off at any moment. He didn’t know how he could thank these two wonderful girls for all they’ve done, even if it wasn’t even a day into their adventure. He’d been given more hope in one night than he had in his two years of torture, and it was all thanks to them. Grateful was too small a word to describe what he was feeling. He supposed that once he got himself repaired and gave himself a new leg and a new pair of eyes, he could thank them properly by dragging his own weight around.

Alice had started shivering again by the time they arrived to an abandoned amusement park, like Kara guessed. There were more rides than actual shelter, but he supposed that they could figure something out.

“There’s a map up ahead,” Kara said, “see it?”

“Maybe it’ll show a storage room we could take refuge in,” Cayden supplied.

Surely enough, it did, and there were three small buildings; one was a storage compartment, like Cayden assumed, a powerhouse; too dangerous, and an android repair room. Cayden made a note in his head to visit that place later once they settled in. So the three of them headed out into the still cold but dry storage room that fortunately had a fireplace inside of it just waiting to be lit. He himself volunteered to make the fire while Kara gave little Alice a meal for the road, which she surprisingly turned down. It was a slow process in making the fire while everything felt frozen stiff, but he made do with the dry sticks he was fortunate enough to find. Soon enough, a healthy orange fire was in place, and Alice was tucked into bed since she was clearly more exhausted than she’d let on. Cayden settled himself into the large window nearby, but still not disturbing their peace time.

“Sweet dreams, Alice,” Kara said quietly after she finished tucking her in with a worn quilt, pecking her head softly. Alice didn’t seem to want to give in so quickly.

“Can you tell me a story, Kara?” She asked hopefully with those dough brown eyes of hers. From there he could see Kara smile softly in a motherly love not easily copied.

“I have _nine thousand_ children stories in memory,” she said to her. “I should have one for you.”

Cayden couldn’t help but listen in, curious as to what story she would tell Alice(if it was because he wanted to hear one, too, who would know?). With a calm, bright, and love filled voice, she began slowly, more luring than any storyteller out there:

“This is the story about a princess who-“

“No,” she interrupted her, shaking her head, “not like that. Make one up for me.”

Now it was Cayden who was getting more interested, though he hid it by looking through the window and pretending that he wasn’t paying attention to them. A soft breathily chuckle came out of her lips, and he knew she must have been smiling at that moment. After a pause, she began once again, just as patient and slow as she was before, but more heartfelt:

“This is the story about a little girl,” she started again, “who wasn’t very happy. She dreamed of being like all the other little girls, but...”

She paused at the perfect times of the story, waiting just long enough for him to want to hear more, and he was hungry for more.

“But the shadow inside her kept her from being happy. Then... she met a robot who was programmed to obey orders, but felt for once that she should disobey. So they decided to run away together, to find a place where they could be safe.”

This was fascinating, Cayden thought. It was fascinating just how gentle this moment was, and how nurturing Kara really could be. It was incredible knowing that she wasn’t even a human, but was so emotional and caring that she could definitely pass as one.

“They encountered great dangers along the way, but they stuck together, so they overcame all of them.”

Alice was entranced by her story, looking up at Kara like she hung the stars in the sky for her as her story continued, and Cayden felt like he was intruding in such a personal moment and didn’t have the right to be there. He would have found his way out to occupy the time until they were done, but it would cause a lot of noise shuffling his way out, and he didn’t want to ruin their moment, so he stayed put.

“Along the way.....” Kara continued, “they met another robot.”

His thirium pump must have skipped a beat because he lost a few breaths for a moment. What was he supposed to be doing in this moment? He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t run away with them, or help them beyond getting them to this Chapman household. Why would they mention him if he was just dropping them off? Or was he? He knew he offered to take them there, but he was expecting them to part ways after that. What if..... what if they were wanting him to stay? No, that’s crazy talk, he told himself. He was just their guide.

“They met another robot..” she continued, and he felt her eyes on him, though he couldn’t bring himself to look at her, “who left his master to become their guardian.”

The words hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut, and out of nowhere there was acid burning the back of his eyes. He’d never heard such kind words in his life, and he almost felt overwhelmed by how sudden this change of behavior was. He had a human who only talked to him to tell him how pathetic and useless he was, and now that he was gone, he felt like he was being welcomed into a family. He pulled himself together though, and avoided looking at them now more than ever.

“How does the story end?” Alice asks her. There is the shuffling of clothing and he assumed that Kara had leaned closer to the girl.

“They reach the place they dream of,” she said positively, “and live happily ever after.”

Cayden almost let a smile loose, but quickly corrected himself because it hurt his face and tried to keep as still as possible. At least _someone_ gets a happy ending, because knowing his luck, he’d probably be dead before he could reach it.

“Stories always have happy endings,” she said to her mother, but it wasn’t happy, “but real life isn’t like that.”

That, my friends, was the moment he felt like an asshole.

It was one thing for him to admit it, but this was a little girl who had given up on the world. There was nothing more disheartening than a little girl losing hope, and the fact that Kara wasn’t correcting her confirmed that she had, too.

“It’s time to sleep,” she said quietly, “we have another day ahead of us tomorrow.”

After settling the quilt over her for a second time from the shuffling of wool, she settled into her makeshift bed. He expected for her to go to bed right then and there, but more ruffling sheets filled his ears, and he swore his thirium pump malfunctioned.

“Are you going to come say goodnight, Cayden?”

He finally found the courage to meet them in the eye, and turned into a puddle by how Alice was giving him the eyes of a sad puppy, and Kara was smiling at him welcomingly, giving him her approval. He panicked because he had no idea what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to do the same thing Kara did, or did he have to do it a different way? If he did, would that make it awkward? Seeing that Alice was still looking for an answer, he stuttered out a reply.

“Yes,” he choked on the word, “y-yes of course.”

With Kara’s help, he was able to lean down next to the girl who finally settled into the sheets, and once again looking to Kara for approval and receiving a nod, he leaned down and gave the girl a quick peck on the forehead, and although amazingly scary, it left a homely warmth in his chest that he enjoyed the feeling of.

“Uh, goodnight Alice,” He said unsteadily. “Sleep tight.”

After Alice was settled into bed, Kara had helped Cayden stand up and head back onto the window, where Kara herself settled in as well, watching over her daughter protectively.

“Thank you,” she eventually spoke up, looking Cayden straight in the eye. “She needed that.”

“Needed what?” He questioned, figuring there were a lot of things that he had done. Kara chuckled fondly at him.

“I mean saying goodnight to her,” she corrected. “I’m about the only one who has shown that they care about her, and I know it tears her up. I know that was uncomfortable for you, but she needed it.”

“I wasn’t uncomfortable,” he promised her. “It was surprisingly pleasant. I was just worried that I’d do it wrong and make _her_ uncomfortable.”

She looked torn between scoffing in disbelief and laughing at him, but she kept it as a fond smile as she shook her head.

“What?” He asked her quietly.

“You are the first person I’ve ever met who’d be afraid of hurting a girl by giving her a goodnight kiss.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“No, it’s just sweet,” she assured him. “It means you really care about her.”

He relaxed slightly, relieved that he didn’t do anything wrong. This felt nice, he admitted to himself. Helping an android care for her little girl, being inside a small structure with a warm fire crackling in the silence. For some reason, he imagined a life like this; with Kara and a repaired version of himself sitting right here, except on two comfy chairs, talking away with Alice cozy on a soft bed, safe from Zlatko, from humanity, from anything that might separate them. Just the three of them against the world. Then again, he decided not to get his hopes up, because this was him he was talking about; the android whose first memory was being in the middle of an android surgery. His luck wasn’t exactly high peak, so he decided to believe that he’d never make it, that way he wouldn’t be disappointed if he didn’t, and be twice as relieved if he did.

“You should get some sleep, too,” Kara eventually suggested, patting a hand on his knee. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly went rigid at the mention of going into rest mode. The nightmares after the torture were just as bad as the actual torture, and he doubted that they were as easy to escape from as Zlatko was.

“No,” he immediately turned down, trying to hide the fear in his voice, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Kara asked with concern, most likely catching the slight crack in his voice.

"I'm sure," he grinned lamely, still getting used to the strange expression in his face, hoping that he was getting the hang of it. "Maybe you should rest, too. Alice will need you at your best tomorrow."

"She'll need you, too," she pointed out, uselessly attempting to hide the fact that she looked exhausted. Or at least as exhausted as a machine can feel.

"I've lasted a long time without going into rest mode. I'll keep watch while you both get some shuteye."

"You have to promise you'll get a few hours yourself," she insisted. "I'm not going anywhere near that bed until you promise."

Cayden absolutely hated lying to her, but he just nodded his head and said that he would try. That seemed to be enough for her as she reluctantly settled down right beside little Alice, wrapping an arm around her, and after a small round of goodnights were said between the two of them, she finally shut her eyes and joined the child in sleep, making Cayden's weary heart melt.

He had never attempted to try and get into rest mode. Instead, he remained on that windowsill, watching the two girls protectively long after their fire died out, trying to ignore the fact that his damages were getting worse than ever, to the point where his breath had begun picking up and would hiss at every small movement in any part of his body.

He absolutely needed to repair himself. He couldn’t go undercover with them, or arrive to this Chapman house looking like a demon. He needed to get back to looking human again if they had any chance at getting out again. Maybe if he snuck off into that android repair center, it could have what he needed to fix himself before they wake up for the morning. By his internal clock, he saw it was around three in the morning, so that gave him at least two to three hours of darkness. He supposed he could work with that. Making sure to stay quiet, he propped himself up and was planning to stand up. At least, that was the plan until he tried standing up on his leg, and a violent crash of sudden agony built up, and he had to bite his lip so hard to refrain from crying, quickly dropping back to the floor with a graceless PLOP.

The traitorous tears built up in his eyes and he couldn’t spare the arm strength to wipe them off. Instead, he just grit his teeth, prepared himself, and tried getting himself up again. It was like his one good leg was being run over by a lawn mower, and he almost sobbed right then and there, but he stifled it as best he could as he fell back down, not having the strength at all to be able to stand up on that leg, much less hop around on it. Deciding to do it the hard way, he did the only other way he knew and crawled with both hands, ignoring how he felt daggers stab his shoulder at the motion. He grit his teeth as he crawled out of the room on all arms and legs, desperately trying to make his way to the repair room without disturbing the girls. The shack was a respectful distance away, so as he got further away, the more he allowed himself to vocalize his pain, wincing and crying whenever he moved too much. He already knew why his body was acting like this: it was too used to one abuse per day, and now that the cycle was broken... now he was feeling every single injury, from the freshest to the ones that happened on day one. They all built up into this personal living hell that made Cayden wish he was back at the Zlatko household.

He was crying quietly by the time he crawled to the repair shed, blue tear tracks staining his eyes as he bore through the pain. Raising his good hand, he was thankful that the door wasn’t locked, and almost sobbed in relief when the door opened without trouble. Desperate to get rid of the pain, he slowly went inside, instantly scanning for things he could use. And he imagined he couldn’t get any luckier today; it had everything. It had spare parts, tools, thirium bags that were probably spoiled by now. Luckily, he already saw at least one or two parts compatible with his model from where he was at. He caught sight of a rolling chair and decided that that could help him with moving around. He mainly focused on his arm strength to pull himself up, but it was a tiring action and he could barely move his arms afterwards.

He did his best to fight it as he picked up the parts he’d need, like a left foot component, or a melding fire tool to fix his skull, or solutions to put on his cuts that could help closing them, or the spare eye components he could take apart and put into his to fix them. As long as he stayed focused, he could get this done by the time the sun rises, but he’d need to do it fast.Taking a deep breath, he started by taking off his soaking shirt and revealing the several nasty scars on his torso. Pouring some of the green lotion looking cream into his shaking hand, he decided to start first with the almost black cut that was inches away from hitting a vital component and shutting him down. Quickly gritting his teeth and tucking his tongue back in an effort to refrain from biting it, he dabbed the cut with the lotion, and he could have sworn that thorn vines had crawled outside of him and were starting to strangle him right then and there as he sobbed through his teeth, clenching his fists until small strips of blue blood came out of his palms. In the protection of privacy, he let himself appear as weak as he allowed, crying with agony as he was forced to cover the rest of the wound with the hellish lotion. **One down**, he thought hopelessly in his head. **Thirty eight more to go**.

It was almost as bad as reliving all the days in that house combined treating all those cuts, and they weren’t even the worst part. He had several doubts that he’d be strong enough to do it, and he’d probably spend the rest of the morning sobbing in the corner like the pathetic weakling he was, but the only thing that kept him from giving up was the fact that Alice and Kara needed him to look as human as possible. That was the only way he could survive with peeling off his own bad eye and piecing it together with pieces of the other eye and repairing it with it still connected to his head, and feeling every pick of the tweezer poking his eye. That means he felt it as his repaired brown eye was pushed back into its socket, and the same thing had to be done for the other one. He was able to meld back a plastic shell over his head again, and it was as if the black trench in his head had never been there as it gave his synthetic skin something to cover. His hand had become too shaky to finish his eye, and it had become too much of a trouble that he couldn’t do it with how shaky his hands had become. Tears kept falling onto the metal table, but he kept working through it all. He fixed the scanner chips in the back of both eyes while he was at it, and he'd imagine his program would have plenty of things to say after giving his form a checkover. It took too much time to finally get it back in working order, but his newly repaired scanner was now at least manageable. Taking in a shaky breath to brace himself, he finally gave himself the courage to slip the orb of mechanical glass back into his torn apart eye socket. He could have sworn that he was shoving a thorn-covered pinball in his eye by how painful it was putting his own eye back. Doing it quick, he shoved the damn piece into his skull with one hand as fast as he could, nearly screaming at the pain, but he had the good sense to bite into his other hand that was closed tight into a fist, barely noticing the sting compared to the ever so slowly deteriorating pain that was infesting in his eye like a pit of ants.

Cayden only sobbed quietly, waiting for the piece to be recognized and stop the thorns in his head from jostling his socket. He waited in the darkness that was his absence of sight as his body did its best to recognize the component, and cried in relief when he heard a positive chirp, and his eyesight had returned, no longer glitching and chipping at the edges, relieved that he could finally truly see again.

He could have sworn he had seen death itself when he heard footsteps outside, and the cold warning breeze down his back as he immediately switched to fight or flight mode. Considering he was in no state to fight, he tried his best to hide and hope that for some reason Rex would think he disappeared and look somewhere else. Although he was too frozen by fear and paralyzed by pain, he couldn’t do much except fall to the floor helplessly, and he wasn’t able to hide as the door swung open quietly. He let his body go rigid to defend against the strikes, but it wasn’t punches he received. Instead, it was a terrified voice.

“Cayden?!”


	5. The Unexpected Help

The sound of the female voice calling his name relieved him, but not enough to lose the tension in his muscles that were clenched tight. She was right on top of him, and when she laid a hand on his back, he reactively jumped back like her touched had burned him, crawling away from whoever was going to hurt him, and he instantly felt shame upon realizing that the woman was Kara, and she herself wasn’t looking too happy with herself either. But it took one look at him and she mysteriously froze in fear at seeing him, her breath hitching ever so slightly. For a few moments, both of them were trapped in their own worlds, Cayden seeing Rex ready to strike. Whatever Kara was seeing, it was clearly no picnic since she screamed the same energy a fox gives when it's ready to pounce after being caught in the chicken coop. Cayden was the first to snap out of it.

“Kara?”

The female android blinked, and suddenly she was back on earth, looking back to the suffering android on the floor.

“Cayden, why are you repairing yourself all on your own?” She insisted.

“You can’t sneak across the border with me looking like a monster,” he answered with a weak tone.

“Why didn’t you ask me for help?” She asked him with concern. “I would have helped you.”

“You were resting,” he explained, not really helping his point. “I don’t want to bother you with something I can do on my own.”

Kara looked ready to start an hour long lecture, but she caught sight of the tear streaks in his eyes, and he instantly lowered his head in disgrace, and all that came out of her mouth was an irritated sigh.

“Here.”

She held out her hand for him to take, and with an unsteady hand, he met hers as she pulled him up, too far into his self torture to be hiding his pain when he hissed as his foot met the floor. She heard his cry and instantly settled him onto the table when standing hurt too much. He held a hand over his stomach to fight against his bio components clawing their way outside of him.

“How bad is it?” She asked him gently. Although normally he would not have done it, he wanted the pain gone NOW, and if it meant being at the mercy of Kara’s hands, he’d have to take it.

“Bad...” is all he got to say before his bio components made a violent jerk, and he instinctively curled his arm around his stomach, gritting his teeth in pain. He didn’t need to look to know that she had done her own scan and quickly set up the remaining materials that he couldn’t reach, and when she had everything she needed, she kneeled down in front of him and looked into his newly repaired and no longer glowing eyes.

It was strange seeing her without the glitches in his eye or the painful cracks in his sight. For once, she wasn’t just a blurry figure buried in static like an old television, but she looked real: something he could reach out and touch if he so desired. It was satisfying actually seeing what was really happening instead of seeing fuzzy shapes moving around or a grey and white stick walking around. He was able to see Kara searching shelf by shelf, picking up pieces for a spare limb, and he could spot every detail on it or exactly what face Kara pulled at the exact moment it was released. It was also unsettling when at last his scanner; with which had been deactivated for over two years now, had started spilling out every attribute of the room or the one android in it with him.

He saw the wooden walls once painted with Silver Swordplay 30BB 45/049 paint, bought from a Lowe’s store twenty years earlier that was chipped and molded beyond use. He saw the brass, plastic, and steel shelves that were rusting with age and more likely to collapse now than survive much longer given how much older they were than the coat of paint. The table he was resting on was a little younger, having arrived here fifteen years ago since the originalhad collapsed due to stress in holding heavy equipment meant for android repair. Then he saw Kara. All it took was one small scan, and suddenly he knew every aspect of her creation.

An AX400, model number #579 102 694;manufactured in the year 2032, owned by a Todd Williams; a known drug addict with a history of domestic abuse. According to the files running around his head, Kara had been called into a Cyberlife store exactly ten times during his care, and all with too close a distance in between to be a regular check up. **What happened to her?** He wondered. **What made her leave?**

“Kara?” He spoke up, a little more timidly than he’d care to admit.

The sound of her name turned her head to face him, and suddenly he was a little more nervous in asking:

“Your reports say that you’ve been to a Cyberlifefacility numerous times in the past year. What happened?”

She looked like she’d been slapped in the face, and probably would have flinched back as such if she hadn’t regained herself, but he caught the slight shuffle of her foot that revealed she definitely wanted to. Almost immediately he regretted asking and bowed his head slightly.

“How do you know that?”

“I scanned you,” He said.

“Cayden, you-“ she almost looked like she was going to raise her voice, but must have thought better of it when Cayden reactively recoiled away, shrinking in on himself out of pure instinct. Why was she angry, he wondered? All he did was scan her. It wasn’t like he committed murder, so the reaction to his confession was more than a little confusing to understand. Kara took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down before she spoke up, needing effort to keep her voice level.

“Scanning another android isn’t something you do lightly,” she explained.

“But why?” Cayden pondered.

“It’s a huge invasion of privacy, and there are some things that we might not like others to know about.”

“So you didn’t want me to know about you?” He asked shyly.

“No, that’s not what I meant.. I just..” She growled in frustration, going back to work in picking up components. “There’s just some things that I’d rather tell you about myself when I feel the time is right. I don’t really want to be forced to talk about something that happened to me.”

That part he could understand. Just like that, it did seem to make sense why scanning could be considered bad. To imagine someone suddenly knowing everything about you in the blink of an eye, he had to admit that did sound pretty intimidating. Shame started flooding in by the gallons, and he instantly regretted having to bring back what was clearly a painful memory for her.

“I understand,” he said quietly, opting to keep his mouth shut, “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Kara said, “you had no way of knowing. I shouldn’t have snapped. But for later, I'd appreciate it if you ask me things instead of scanning for it.”

“I will,” he promised.

“Okay, I think this should do it,” she said, carrying an armful of bio components that he saw was compatible with his model towards the table and spreading them out. Most of them were small parts meant for larger parts, but they could be enough to fix a few of his systems, but he already knew there wasn’t enough to fix everything wrong with him, and if that was all Kara could find, then he knew there was no chance he’d be able to look human enough to pass the test. Nevertheless, he didn’t voice out as such and let Kara help in any way she felt was necessary.

“So there's a lot of things that need repairs," Kara pointed out, "do you have any suggestions where to start? I'm not really a master of android anatomy; especially with your kind of model."

"It's a long list," Cayden warned, still irritated at the fact that he's keeping her from tending to Alice; the one who needed all the security they could offer.

"Lay it on me," she quickly said.

"Is Alice doing okay?" Cayden tried avoiding the subject, "did you check on her yet?"

"She's fine, Cayden. You, on the other hand, are not. Stop trying to stall."

"I'm not stalling," he said honestly, "I just think Alice needs you right now more than I do. I've done this before, I can handle it."

"You shouldn't have to," Kara insisted, "I don't know your thoughts about joining us on this trip, but we're in this together. Alice and I aren't asking you to be invulnerable, okay? You're allowed to need help sometimes."

**No, I'm not**, he disagreed but kept it silent.

**"Yes, you are."**

He'd never jumped higher in his life than when he heard Kara's clear as daylight voice in his head, noticing too late that the sudden movements disturbed his wounds as he suddenly groaned and hugged his stomach.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"What the hell was that?" he puzzled, trying to tough out the hammer in his gut.

"It's, um.." Kara paused, "a little trick androids can do."

"Let me guess: we're telepathic," Cayden said, not even surprised at this point.

"Only when you power it on. You must have switched it on by accident when you turned on your scanner."

"Well, how do I turn it off?" the last thing he ever wanted was to have his thoughts made public. Obviously he'd have a lot of explaining to do if that were ever the case.

"Here," she was suddenly right in front of him, her hand pressing against a small spot near the back of his head. He might have recoiled, but Kara was close in perimeter, only a single foot in distance away from his own face. By the way she pressed into his head, it almost forced him to meet her eyes, though he couldn't bring himself to mind too much. During those few seconds of silence, Cayden found himself catching small details in her features that he hadn't quite caught before. He could see the faint laugh lines under her button nose and the way they'd pinch slightly when she was concentrating, or the way her perfectly shaped synthetic brows furrowed as she pressed different spots in his neck, almost like she was playing a game of Blitz on the back of his head, and he wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Her white hair brushed over her eyes, a few small and adventurous strands hanging over her left eye, and he almost brushed them away with his hand before suddenly stopping himself before he could likely make a fool out of himself.

Cayden had no idea how it happened, but he just could not tear his eyes away from hers that were too busy focusing on turning off the weird mind thing in his head. They seemed to be glowing like blue ice on a summer Arctic morning, strengthened by her frost white hair that made her eyes pop or the faint imprinted eyeshadow that seemed so plain that you could easily miss it but just dark enough to make her blue orbs shine. They were like the stars, they way they drew him in to explore the swirling emotion held in their depths. the black of her pupil was surrounded by a ring of jagged silver fire swallowed by sapphire blue. At one glance her eyes merely shone, but if you dared to look closer you could clearly see the sadness of broken trust, the joy of motherly love, the hope of the future, the pain of sorrow, and the fire of a spirit that would never give up. For some reason, it was almost hypnotic the way he couldn't bring himself to look away from such beautiful eyes that he'd be satisfied with staring into for hours. A slight alarm in his system warned him that his body temperature had risen faintly, but he easily dismissed the notion as a possible glitch in his system given how many things were messed up about it.

The longer he looked, the more he found himself noticing a strange feeling inside his core, feeling like something was alive and fluttering inside it. The sensation felt familiar somehow, given he felt a similar thing the first time he had seen Alice smile as he showed her his coin tricks. But it wasn't exactly the same thing. No, this felt..... raw. Unrestricted and fierce and threatening to rip him apart. It was a hungry lion circling him, warning of disaster if this sudden urge remained unchecked. It only grew the longer he bore into Kara's extraterrestrial orbs that he was compelled to. The strange part was no matter how many times he tried self testing for glitches or unusual malfunctions, other than the obvious damages, there was nothing wrong with his program, yet he found himself fearing for his life. What was happening to him?!

He was too trapped in his own mind that he hadn't even thought to detect that Kara was now looking right back at him, her expression unreadable. The feeling of his heart stopping for a short few seconds was far too similar to all the other moments in his life that it made his breath hitch, instantly breaking the connection between the two by dropping his gaze to look at the hands fiddling in his lap like a ten year old stuck in his first day of detention. He felt like he was on fire, the pleasant warmth fading like shadow as this brand new feeling of scorched sewing needles pricking every inch of his skin took over. He could almost feel the android's gaze on him like a knife to the forehead, and he instantly hated it, never wanting to feel such a horrid discomfort for the rest of his existence. The feeling only doubled as the silence stretched on unbearably. Other than the quiet beeping of buttons on his skin being pressed, it was quieter than midnights in Zlatko's mansions, and trust me, those were no band concert themselves. It made dread and sickening unease crawl up his spinal component like ants, and he wanted to scream just to have something destroy the burdening quiet that was pounding in his ears.

There was this monotonous beep that filled the air, and Kara stepped back slightly, which must have meant that she had finished with turning off the telepath mode.

"I think that should do it. Try thinking something: I need to know if it worked," she instructed, and he did as he was told, thinking up a single phrase; **why is it so damn hard to talk to you without making me look crazy?**

There was a long pause of silence as dread filled his guts. What if he was scaring her with this? Did she think he had finally lost it? He really liked traveling with her and Alice, and he didn't even know what he'd do if they decided to leave him here and find Canada by themselves. He'd been alone for almost two years now. He didn't think he could stand even a few minutes being alone again, though he'd take that confession to his grave (though lets be honest, he'd probably throw it out if he got desperate enough).

"Looks like it worked," Kara thought optimistically, clearing her throat a few times, "one problem down, about thirty six more to go."

And he thought that was humiliating? Try being turned different directions like a play doll, holding back his winces every time she pressed against a wound too hard. He felt far too helpless and weak, and it was starting to get to him as irritation started building up in his gut, not really for anything in general. Basically just everything. He did his best to keep his mouth shut, but it was hard when Kara had to snap his arm back in its socket or smear the agonizing green lotion over the three large slices on his left eye from the android polar bear. The smell itself was sharp and brought wet tears lining in his eyes, so he almost screamed when the lotion met his scars, and if he hadn't been biting his tongue with a force strong enough to slice a titanium rod, he might have. The cuts on his back were bearable, but no less painful to bear as Kara carefully rubbed the ointment over his bare back, tensing every so often whenever she rubbed against the tear. God, this was humiliating, he grumbled.

He'd decided he'd had enough when it was time to click in the spare android leg at long last, and he did not want Kara to be tending to every little damage he got, so he stopped her just as she was settling it in place. "Stop," he said, attempting to keep his voice level,"I'll do it."

She must not have been expecting his statement because her head lifted to meet his eyes for the second time that morning, only this time she was looking at him like he grew two extra heads.

"Really?" she asked him. "Are you sure? This is a very delicate process, and if you click it in wrong-"

"I said I'm doing it, alright?!" he suddenly snapped, instantly regretting it when she recoiled back like she'd been burned, dropping the limb to the ground in fright. What made it worse is that she looked genuinely scared for a good few moments. Of him.

The guilt slammed into his chest like a metal pipe as he instantly felt shame in his unnecessary outburst. Was he trying to get himself kicked out?! It was only the first night and he was already being more of a pain than he should have to be given these were the two that had saved him from a short life of experimentation and torture.

"I'm sorry.." he said quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled. You were just trying to help. But please... let me do it."

He hated how stiff Kara looked, eyeing him like he was about to go rabid and attack, and he found himself wondering what the hell happened to her to make her so guarded. Despite his curiosity, he kept his unpredictable and untrustworthy mouth shut, not wanting to make the tense situation any worse than it already was. After a good few seconds of silence, she seemed to come back into her body, blinking a few times and relaxing a little.

"Okay," she said, picking up the leg back up from the floor and approaching him, still hesitant which slightly hurt him more than he'd admit. "Just be careful."

Nodding a little, he timidly gripped the filthy white leg component, settling himself so he could reach the stub. holding the clip on the leg centimeters away from the hook, he found his arm holding the leg shaking slightly as he braced himself, taking one long, deep breath to prepare for a long night of having an aching limb. Clenching his jaw tight, he snapped the component in place with a loud click, immediately yelling through his teeth at the monster eating his leg. His hands were closed in white knuckled fists, the blue thirium veins popping in his pale skin. It was so painful that he almost saw the ends of his vision turning dark and his head go faint. It was Kara's hands on his shoulder holding him down that made him try to focus on her voice for any grounding source.

"You did it, Cayden," she encouraged, "you just did the worst of it, okay? You're going to be alright."

Holding back the acid tears building up in his eyes was so incredibly hard when every sore component riled up into one large wave of pain.

His internal clock told him that it was three minutes until the pain had become more manageable to where he could lose some of the tension in his artificial muscles. undeterred by the fact that he wrongfully frightened her, she was there every step of the way, soothing him when the pain would become slightly too much to bear. If not for her, he'd have probably passed out long before all this, and he had a thank you resting on his tongue, but for some reason, it wouldn't come out, and he decided that he'd tell it to her later when he wasn't in the risk of fainting on the spot. The loss of thirium made his body far more sluggish than he was comfortable with, and the fact that he was slowly gaining temperature was no encouraging sign. Especially not when he felt chilled to the bone despite knowing that he was getting hotter by the minute. Kara seemed to notice it, because she pressed her hand against his forehead, and for some reason the feeling of her skin felt so soothing as he sighed quietly, involuntarily relaxing against her touch. She'd press the back of her hand against his cheek after she was done with his forehead, and she must have gotten the same result.

"You're burning like a stove," she told him.

"I feel cold," Cayden told her numbly.

"If you were a human, I'd have said you had a fever," she said incredulously, "you need thirium, but they're all outdated and would sooner kill you than cool you down. Until I can, we need to keep you from burning yourself out. Can you stand?"

Just the question made his weary components lurch painfully, but he already knew what needed to be done. Nodding his head faintly, he did his best to push himself off the table he sat on, not getting far before needing help from Kara who wrapped his good arm around her shoulder and hoisted him onto his feet, and he tried not to cry out in agony when his new operational leg hit the floor. Living two years without a leg, it really was a surprise to have something keeping him on his feet without losing balance. If he weren't so hurt at the moment, he might have made a joke about how he could see everything from up here, but the only thing that escaped his mouth was a strained moan when his bio components did a flip in his system. They barely walked out of that room before his system finally retalliated from his wounds, and the blaring alerts slammed into his head like knives.

THIRIUM LEVELS: DETERIORATING 70%

BIO-COMPONENT #3856 (LEG): FOREGIN CONTAMINANT DETECTED

BIO-COMPONENT #0162(ARM):DAMAGED BUT OPPERATIONAL

OPTICAL UNIT: RESTORED

CENTRAL PROCESSOR #0118: CRITICAL STATE

SEVERE LACERATIONS DETECTED

THIRIUM 310 CONTAMINANTS DETECTED

EMERGENCY DISPENSE INITIATED

INITIATING..

INITIATING..

EMERGENCY DISPENSE COMMENCED

It was an order in his head, so he had no control as he felt the bile rise up his throat.

"..K..Kara.." he said in a muffled voice. He fell to his knees weakly, hearing Kara crying his name, but he couldn't hear her over the sound of him coughing out his own blood, dispelling of the contaminated thirium in his system. It felt like squeezing a spear out of his throat the longer it continued, but it just wouldn't stop. It kept going and going until the snow underneath him was soaked in blue. He knew Kara was freaking out above him, pointlessly trying to figure out what was going on. The more thirium he got rid of, the fuzzier his head felt, and the less control he had for his own body. Despite his strength ebbing with every drop of thirium lost, his body wouldn't stop throwing it all away, practically killing him in its attempt to save him.

His levels were at a dangerous level of 40% by the time the painful heaving had finally stopped, and he barely had the energy to hold himself up with shaking arms. If he was cold now, he felt like he'd spent the entire winter in the Arctic. Kara looked relieved that he wasn't throwing up any more, but her voice was muffled, like he was hearing her talk while she had a pillow over her face. Her hands were on him, and despite how much he wanted to swat them away and say another lie they both knew was wrong, he could hardly keep his eyes open, much less get his arms to do what he wanted them to do. He tried saying a pathetic 'I'm fine', but only "Ah'm.... fi'e" came out, which was the equivalent of having three bullets in your chest and saying 'don't worry, they just nicked me'.

She was talking to him, but he felt underwater, everything distorting in his vision and swimming like waves while everything was out of place. Even his own hands and fingers swam around in front of him. Kara's arms hooked around his chest, and he only wheezed weakly in response when she hoisted him up. He felt like a puppet with its strings cut and even his own head flopped around pathetically as the android had to drag his useless body across the cold snow. He urged himself to pick up his feet and try to take off some of the burden from her having to drag his obviously heavy body back to where Alice was, but his limbs felt like wood and his train of thought was slowed to at least one full thought every fifteen seconds, which was weird given his great ability to overthink nearly everything. A slurred apology was resting on the tip of his tongue, but it never did get past his lips. Her muffled words filled the air, and he chose to believe that they were some form of encouragement.

THIRIUM LEVELS: 39%

INITIATING EMERGENCY STASIS

It was like the press of a button, and Cayden dropped like a stone and slipped from Kara's grip, falling face first into the snow, his injuries screaming in agony for the disturbance but not having enough voice to vocalize it any longer. He was freezing, but a numbness flowing across his body was so sudden that he had no time to fight it. A hand was pulling his shoulder, but his eyes already shut and everything turned black before he could see Kara's worried face on top of him.


	6. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to JasmineRosalie for such kind comments and pushing me to make this story the best I can make it. This chapter is one of the ones I'd struggled with for MONTHS, and then I heard all of the nice things everyone had to say about it, and I was able to finish it. Now every hole is filled, and now I only have those few final chapters to work on. Seriously, I cannot thank all of you enough for enjoying this as much as you do and pushing me to do my best. I promise there's going to be a lot more progress since the worst road block is cleared, so you'll be seeing a lot more of these in the coming weeks. STAY SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

It was in and out for who knows how long. He'd come to in a weak and ice cold body despite being smothered in blankets and coats, and every time he did, Alice and Kara were there by his side, promising that he was okay, and that he would be fine. He'd be starting his first slurred word before the darkness took him back again. The second time was a little stranger, because when he opened his eyes once more, he was smothered by identical androids dressed in park uniforms and covered in white snow, the one up front pressing into parts of his body. If he had the strength, he'd have fought with all he had, scrambling for the first item that could work as a weapon and fight his way to Kara and Alice. But he was completely immobilized, and it was impossible to even lift a finger. With what little energy he could muster, he mumbled weakly for them to leave him alone.

"You are gravely damaged," the android's chippy voice said. "We wish to help you."

He only told them to go away once again, but by then he'd already spent all he could spare, and he dropped once again.

The third time was the strangest out of all of them. Kara was dragging him by his armpits, hugging his chest while dragging his limp body across the bright white summer day snow with little Alice trailing behind them.

"Help! Please!" Kara cried. "He needs help!"

The fog in his mind didn't allow him to decipher much more of what was being said. He would have asked, but there was a sudden shift in direction and he was being led into a warm area lit in a homely yellow light and brown floor. As he was laid down, he felt a wood floor under him and saw a clean ceiling above him, and he wondered what the hell he was doing inside a house when they were just outside. A head was looking down on him, and he knew right off the bat that this was another face he had never seen in his life. This time it was a woman, eyes wide with fear but sharp in determination, asking him questions he couldn't hear, much less answer, and looking to Kara when he didn't. A few more mumbled words and he was being pulled up again, and it was that time when unconsciousness clawed him back.

The third time his eyes floated open slowly, he was neither in the cold snow, and neither was he on a wood floor. Instead he woke on something soft and comfortable that he seemed to sink into, like a bed that hugs you. He saw a clean room with an open window hiding behind a blue curtain that swayed in the winter breeze. An empty chair was beside his bed, and for a moment he wondered who was supposed to be sitting there.

He may not have been completely lucid, but even his sluggish brain knew that his consciousness was very limited, and odds are he wasn't going to be long before he fell asleep again. Even now, the pure exhaustion muddled in his brain, adding weights to his heavy eyelids that he had to physically force open every five seconds. The area around him had a welcoming yellow glow, but instead of wondering where he was like he should have been, he was nearly drunk with ease, knowing nothing but the sheets over his body and the cradling bed beneath him. He'd never seen a bed before: much less actually be in one. It was apparently a common need in a human's life, but to Cayden, it felt like something only the most fortunate could use. How could it be common if it feels this good to use? Or maybe it only feels good to him because he's only had a dark and soggy bedroom corner, but this was the most pleasant he'd ever felt in.... probably ever.

Through the doorway came a blurry figure in his half-lidded vision, and all it took was to see the white fuzz on top of her head to know that he was in the company of someone he could trust. She came closer to him, clearly saying something by the murmurs in the air that he couldn't quite catch, but whatever she was saying, he was sure it was important.

"Hey....... Cayden..." he could make out through the fog in his mind. "You should.... more careful... really scared me..."

**Scared her?** he thought half consciously. Who scared this wonderful android? Whoever it was, he wanted to pull out his fists and teach them a lesson for scaring Kara. Who the heck would scare her anyway? Alice certainly wouldn't do something like that, and the only one he knew who could freak her out would be.............. Oh.

**Oh.**

He scared her. Right, that makes more sense now. If he had the strength, he might have given himself a light punch just to keep true to his word, but still it was heavy as metal.

"Wh'r....." he slurred weakly with drooping eyes, "...wh'r 'm I.."

"We're at the homestead," she answered patiently, the words like lines in a play, and he'd imagine that she has probably answered the same question before. "You were right. She does rescue androids. She helped us patch up what I couldn't and kept your fever from blowing your head off."

He tried saying something else, but it only came out as a hoarse rattle that burned his throat, and he winced at just how much it hurt to speak. Thenhe felt Kara very gently lifting his torso off of the very comfortable bed, and it was strange that his damages weren't as sharp and painful as they used to be when he moved.

"Here," she said gently, with a soft voice that he'd only heard her give Alice. "Drink this."

The minute he felt the glass tip against his lips, it felt like it was something hot wired into his

system, and he latched onto it like a human infant would for milk, hungrily swallowing every short amount Kara allowed to pass into his mouth. He hoarded it all like a starved dog finding its first real meal in days, and the small sips weren't enough to satisfy him.

"Slow down, Cayden," she warned. "I've got more, but it'll be easier if you don't spill it all over yourself first."

Once the first bottle was empty, she moved on to the next, and Cayden reluctantly listened to her and did take only small sips at a time. While he was drinking swallow by swallow, he couldn't help but think..... **This is nice**.

A part of him wondered why he even bothered fighting against her help? If this was what being helped felt like, he should have asked for it long ago. He'd lived so long doing things on his own, and for once, it was nice to let someone else take over, if not for a little while. It was nice to finally have a break from being strong or independent. It was nice knowing that he had people that wouldn't mind looking out for him on his worst days. He would have smiled if he weren't too busy filling his starved system of the fuel it needed to keep running.

His thirst was satisfied by the third or fourth bottle, and he felt so content in the moment that he was tempted to close his eyes and remain in this spot for the rest of eternity.

"You're definitely doing better than you did," Kara said, "but you're not out of the woods just yet. You just need to keep drinking this every now and then and get some rest and you'll be on your feet enjoying your new leg before you know it."

That did sound really good, he thought drunkedly. Sleep sounded like a really good idea, so he decided he'd do that first. Maybe the next time he woke, he'd ask Kara why her voice makes his stomach feel all funny. Comforted in the warmth that Kara's presence gave, he let his tired eyes float shut one last time, unconsciously leaning into the beautiful and kind android that stayed by his side. He could have sworn he felt a gentle hand brush across his hair, but he was probably just making that up.

By the time he had completely reactivated, he'd felt better than he had ever felt in his short life. So much better that it almost scared him. Even since the first moment in his first awakening, he'd been in agony, so it was amazingly odd that he didn't feel any aching components or oozing cuts or the irritation of the claw marks on his eye (trust me, that one stuck with him longer than it should have.) He was aware enough to finally be awake, but it was still hard to open his eyes by how comfortable they were. His arms and legs were a relaxing kind of limp, and he would feel content in staying in this spot for the rest of his existence. The air was cold, but the soft quilt over him stopped the nip in the air from reaching him. That, and his body felt pleasantly warm, like when you lay on a metal air conditioner on a snowy day and lay a blanket over it to trap the warmth. Never mind Canada, or the Bahamas, or Paris, or anywhere in the world, he’d be happy to spend the end of time in this one spot. The relaxed deep breath that escaped from his nose was involuntarily, and if he weren't limp enough, he seemed to turn to a boneless corpse by how relaxed he felt at the moment, keeping his eyes shut as he remained there for a little while to enjoy just how amazing the feeling of safety felt; a feeling that never showed itself often for him.

"Are you awake, Cayden?" the most wonderful voice he could have ever heard spoke up through the silence, and it was almost record time how fast a weak but sincere grin met his face as he finally pried his eyes open to see little Alice sitting on the bed near his head, dressed in brand new PJ's covered in unicorns and cupcakes. Her hair was down for the first time he'd seen her, and it made his chest swell by how childlike she appeared, as if she were another ordinary little girl trying to wake her father on Christmas morning. Her face sure lit up as such seeing him awake at last, her smile making the room feel five times brighter.

"You're awake!" she cried out in glee, immediately burying his side in a large hug which almost made Cayden flinch in response, his eyes close to popping right out of his skull by how surprised he felt. Luckily, he just barely stopped the instinct that ordered him to get away from whoever was touching him, and after a good few moments of shock, his hands slowly rose up to unsurely wrap around her gently, scared he'd crack her in half with even the smallest amount of pressure. That was a first, he thought. He'd never been hugged before, much less by a child. Was he even doing this right, he wondered? Alice was unwrapping from him just as quick as she latched on, and suddenly she was hopping from her seat on the bed, talking a mile a minute:

"You're finally awake! I mean, you were before but you were all dizzy and tired, but now you're up! And you look better now! Well, actually... not that you looked bad before. You were more of a creepy kind of cool back then, but now you look like a human. And you're fixed! Now you won’t be so hurt all of the time! And I didn’t know your eyes were brown! I thought that they’d be a hazel green, but I’m not complaining, because brown looks good too, and now they look like mine!"

"It's good to see you too, Alice," he stopped her in fear he'd turn to a puddle on the floor, noting how dry his throat felt when he spoke.

"Kara said you were really really hurt," Alice told him, sending an ice pick of guilt into his chest as he imagined how scary that must have been for her. "Are you feeling better now?"

Cayden had to take a few seconds to plan out themost honest answer he could. Most of the pain was gone, and other than a few sore spots and a slight sting, physically he was feeling just fine. Maybe a little restless given he probably hasn't moved in a while. One thing was for sure: it'd take a long time to get used to the fact that everything wasn't aching, and the soreness in his parts was a stark contrast compared to an entire two years of every bio component tearing itself apart.

"Yeah, I..... I'm feeling better."

That earned him another hug. One that he wasn't exactly used to but at least this time he was prepared, wrapping an arm across Alice's delicate body like he was hugging a glass statue. He never thought that he'd be hugged before, and in another situation, he might even find himself to relish the oven warmth that was the girl's body pressing against his own. Maybe one day he'll be the one orchestrating them, but he imagined that would be in the distant future.

"I'm glad you're okay," Alice said sincerely. "I thought you were gonna die."

"I'll...." he hesitated, not really knowing what to say to her. "I'll... try not to.."

The longer she clung to him, the more he found himself relaxing involuntarily, all the stiffness leaving his body until all there was was a comforting warmth that made him feel more at home than he had ever felt before. He wondered if it was just an Alice thing or if every hug felt like this, but he decided that maybe if his anxiety with touch gave him a break, he'd be willing to test out that theory one day.

"How long have I been in stasis?" he asked her.

"A few days," Alice said. "Rose said that you should be able to walk tomorrow, so you can enjoy your new leg and be able to walk again."

He knitted his brows at that, unwrapping to look the little girl in the eye.

"What do you mean 'new leg'?" he asked. "Is it..."

"Rose helped put it together for you."

To prove her point, she slowly pulled back the sheets, and as it revealed, his breaths caught in his throat when he noticed that there was no stump of a leg anymore, but a full limb compatible with his model given the way skin had grown over it. You may never have known that he'd have lost it in the first place by how ordinary of a foot it was, but to Cayden it looked like a miracle. He felt himself touching the leg himself as if to prove that it wasn't some illusion that would fade away like mist. But he felt it under his fingertips, and as he tried curling his toes, after a few numb tries, they did respond to his command, curling up the way he wanted them to.He couldn't tell if the sound that came out of his mouth was a sob of a laugh, but he was smiling through the tears, so he imagined that either one would work. Either way, it got him another hug that he was less shy in receiving.

Ruining the moment, he felt ice freezing his veins at the sound of muffled feet coming his way, and he had no say in it whatsoever when he hit the panic button, his mind screaming **ZLATKO'S COMING ZLATKO'S COMING ZLATKO'S COMING ZLATKO'S COMING!!**

His breathing became choppy as he quickly gripped Alice in a desperate grip and launched them both off the bed, curling into the side away from the door.

"Cayden?!" Alice cried. "What's going on?"

"No, no, no, you gotta be quiet!" he hyperventilated. "He'll hear you.."

"Who?"

To prove his point, the door clicked open, and he nearly crushed Alice in panic, hiding her with his body to protect her the best he can from the forthcoming attack. He knew his panicking was scaring Alice by seeing her stress levels rise the longer she remained pressed against his pounding thirium pump, but he'd have to deal with that later when she wasn't in the risk of being strapped to a metal table and operated on.

_What the hell are you doing? _his mind screamed. You know i_t's not him! Snap out of it, you coward!_

Regardless of what he was told, his body didn't seem to want to obey, like it was a natural instinct that even he himself couldn't overcome. So he only stayed locked tight, nearly crushing Alice in his effort to protect her.

There wasn't any pattering on the carpet floor, so he knew that whoever was there hadn't come inside yet, and was instead standing near the doorway. Cayden couldn't breathe, and even if he could he wouldn't risk drawing the monster closer to them, so despite feeling his chest heat up by the lack of air, he didn't move a muscle.

"Cayden?" an unfamiliar Not-Zlatko voice spoke up softly, but he didn't relax just yet.

"It's just Rose," Alice spoke up timidly, but all it achieved was him holding Alice tighter, his panic not allowing him to see the fact that he wasn't in danger.

"Cayden, my name is Rose," she said carefully but gently, like she knew exactly what was happening. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Even his irritated mind caught the human in her lie, so it didn't have any nasty scolds to give when he didn't relax from her words.

"I won't move from this spot if you don't want me to," she promised him. "Alice said ten minutes ago she was visiting you, so I'll guess she's with you now. Kara is downstairs in rest mode. She's been by your side since the start, and I just now got her to take a break. Your family is safe."

"Cayden," Alice said quietly, and Cayden went even more frigid to her voice. "Why are you scared?"

The most childlike and innocent question he'd ever heard, yet he had no true answer to give. Despite how stupid he felt being scared of something like this, his body didn't get the message and behaved as if the human on the other side of the bed was a walking bomb. It was like watching everything unfold through a glass wall. He wanted to let her go, he wanted to stand up and talk to this woman instead of cowering away from her, but his limbs would not budge.

"If I walked away and gave you more time to adjust, would that make you feel better?"

He had to admit that it was odd having an opinion on his own treatment, but until that woman was gone, he wouldn't be able to willingly calm down. It was sad how he couldn't even bring himself to mumble a simple 'yes', but the silence must have been answer enough for her, because she walked away with extra quiet steps that could barely be heard. Only when there was complete silence did he finally regain control of himself after a shaky breath. He felt Alice squirming lightly, and he immediately loosened his grip on her, not meeting her eye in shame and humiliation.

"Cayden, why were you scared?" the little girl asked again as she slipped free only to face him, a sick punch to the gut with her words. "Rose is really nice."

He didn't say anything to that, not sure if he could bring himself to explain something that he himself wasn't too sure he could handle. So instead he just sat there quietly as knives of embarrassment twisted into his system like rainfall. Now Alice won't like him anymore. He nearly hurt her over a useless noise, and now she'll be reluctant with him. He supposed that it was a matter of time. This was him they were talking about. Sooner or later, everyone will despise him no matter how much they may say they don't. He just hoped that this little child would have been different, but he knew now that that was asking for far too much.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hug, to which he furrowed his brows in seeing said girl nestling into his chest like she didn't see him collapse recently.

"I'm shy, too," she said innocently. "But you'll like her. She's kind like Kara."

A whiff of air escaped from his lips that could possibly pass as a chuckle as he let one hand rest on the girl's back.

"Cayden?" Kara's gentle voice said from further down. "Do you want me to come up?"

Calming himself down, he decided that it'd be better if he were surrounded by familiar faces, so he gave a dry and quiet 'yeah' that barely escaped his lips, and he had to refrain from having a thirium pump contractions when there were footsteps again, physically restraining himself not to accidentally crush Alice again.

A gentle knock was on the wall, and surely enough, there was Kara, not as covered in mud and dirt and looking to be at least slightly more at ease. Her thick jacket was off, and now she wore a grey sweater that complimented her hair choice and brought out the blue in her eyes. He'd never understand why his pump, which was about to stop seconds earlier, fluttered when he saw her at that moment, but he figured he had a LOT of things he needed to sort through now that he had the time to actually do it.

"Hey, Cayden," she greeted lightly, a faint smile on her face. "Can I come inside?"

The sudden ask for permission nearly knocked him off his feet, but he nodded yes, and Kara made her way inside.

"I'm so sorry about all of the confusion," she said guiltily. "I should have stayed a little longer, and maybe I'd have been able to explain things before something happened."

"Don't apologize for getting rest," he denied. "Besides, how could you have known?"

"I know, I know," she reluctantly admitted. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," it felt like it was involuntary and stiff when the response went out of his mouth, feeling too prepared and too forced. He could tell she caught the lie the moment it escaped his mouth, but she didn't push, and he couldn't be more thankful by the fact that she didn't call him a liar and order him to try again. For now, she let him be, and it was a nice change of pace from the girl who had to see every injury on his person and treated him like something that would break if touched too firm.

She handed him a pack of thirium, and he took it thankfully and took a big long drink, enjoying the soothing cold liquid racing down his throat and refreshing his voice.

"So who is here?" Cayden asked.

"Only Rose and her son," Kara assured. "This place is very desolate, so we won't have to worry about unexpected visitors."

"How are they?" Cayden asked. "Can we trust them?"

Kara didn't answer right away, taking a few moments to think it through before giving him her most honest answer:

"I'll admit, I'm a little skeptical about Adam," she admitted. "He hasn't said a word to us since we arrived and doesn't look too happy when we need his help. However, I feel like Rose is safe. She hasn't done anything to throw off an alarm, and I think she really is trying to help. We can trust her."

Clearly Cayden was doubtful, but if they've been here as long as he thinks they have and no one has called the police yet, then maybe for now they might be safe.

"Can she get you to the border?" he asked her.

"The river's frozen solid this time of year," Kara explained. "The only way through is by bus, and there's a very limited amount of passengers and a very strict way to get to tickets. It's not going to be easy, but I never thought it was."

"So we're stuck here?" Cayden voiced.

"Only until Rose can find us another way across, but I don't think there will be."

"If that's the case, then you two need to get tickets for that bus."

"Wait, you're not coming?"

The sudden question wrapped a rubber belt around his thirium pump and squeezed it real tight as he gawked at Kara, not at all expecting to hear that of all things come from her mouth. Did that mean......

"I....." he said, suddenly very shy, "I thought... I-I was expecting... I just... thought.... I... thought I was just helping you get here...."

**CRAP THAT CAME OUT WRONG**_!_ His mind screamed at him when Kara's expression fell ever so slightly, so he scrambled to correct himself.

"No, not like that! I'm not saying I want to leave! I really enjoy your company! I was just convinced that... that, uh... that it's...."

** _You're goddamn useless, you know that?_ **

"You were convinced what?" she asked him, and he urged himself to just get it out, because this was far more embarrassing than it should have. So he just sighed and got it out.

"I just... I was sure that you only wanted me as a guide to this place, and you wouldn't want anything to do with me after that."

He shrunk away after he was done, expecting some sort of verbal abuse for thinking that they'd want anything more to do with him than that. What he wasn't expecting was:

"Cayden, I wanted you to come with us since the car ride," she told him. "You've been through a lot, and maybe Canada would be good for you too. Whether or not you want to stay with us after that is up to you."

That belt around his heart finally loosened, and he felt like he could breathe once more with the assurance that they weren't ditching him.

"Thanks..." he said, still a little more skittishly than he'd prefer, but at least it came out.

"You're welcome," Kara returned, a smile in her voice despite not seeing it himself. "Is there anything I can give you right now?"

"I don't know," he confessed, not really certain what it is he NEEDS. After being a man with literally nothing, and now he had everything to ask for and he just didn't KNOW. It's the same thing a homeless man feels when someone drags them to the supermarket and offers to pay for anything they want, and he just couldn't bring himself to ask for anything because he suddenly has so much. "Maybe.... never mind."

"What?" Kara insisted for the first time.

"It's just.." he hesitated. "I want to walk."

She softened, already knowing what he was trying to say.

"Rose said it'd be best to wait until tomorrow. She said the thirium will reach most of the limb and you'll be able to fully control it. But.... I think you've been on the ground long enough."

He couldn't help the grateful grin that overcame his features because she actually understood. She was in front of him in no time, offering her hand to support him, and for once, Cayden accepted the help as he pulled himself up, occasionally wincing lightly when a limb strained when he moved it too fast, but he didn't complain. In fact, he was certain he'd never complain about any body pains ever again after what Zlatko put him through, because anything that's not a polar bear or surgery knife to the bio components made everything else feel like a faint paper cut in comparison.

His hand rested on the edge of the bed as Kara helped him onto his (two) feet, and he realized that yes, the leg indeed needs some time to fill with thirium because he could hardly feel the new limb touch the floor at all, but he did feel it on the knee it was connected to, finding it strange how it isn't hanging loosely when he's standing but actually kept still by the numb leg. Just that by itself would need some getting used to.

"Are you good?" she asked with concern, and he only nodded, desperate to take the first few steps that he hadn't taken in years. Keeping his grip on Kara's shoulder for support, he skittishly took that first step, and he nearly cried in relief when he found that he indeed could walk again. Luckily, he didn't, but no one needed to know.

Cayden spent a good hour with his two girls, both keeping him up as he got used to the fact that OH MY GOD HE WAS WALKING AGAIN! They all circled around the room and sometimes out in the hallway, and he found that he definitely needed some practice time in given the fact that he's nearly face planted more times than he dare count. Nonetheless, he was piece by piece getting used to having two feet underneath them, and soon he didn't need them supporting him anymore, and he was too overjoyed to care about how weak he looked to them when he was finally able to walk again.

His feet felt like they were going to slip right off by the time they sat him down on the bed again, but it was worth the time he had to reacquaint himself to not being dragged by someone.

On his thirteenth round around the hallway, he spotted the bathroom, and immediately it made him freeze in thought. Cayden couldn't help but look down at himself, noticing that he could barely see his own skin through the grime and muck layering his skin. A part of him felt sick at the fact that most of this filth came from Zlatko's house, and he couldn't help but feel fright at the thought of anything related to that monster still being with him, no matter how small the detail is. So his immediately concern became to get all of this filth off of him as soon as possible. Also, the bathroom was right here, so why not take the rounds short and clean up?

"Kara?" he spoke to the android. "Do you think I could clean myself up?"

She frowned faintly in confusion, but didn't turn him down and left him momentarily to get him new clothes and a fresh clean towel to use for when he was done.

Ten minutes later, he was all alone, standing in the shower and relishing the warm water beating down on his skin. The sound of rushing water hitting ceramic was the loudest sound in the room, leaving no space for his own thoughts that were swirling like the dirt racing down the drain piece by piece. Every speck felt like shackles made by Zlatko being lifted off his body, every small reminder of that man floating away where he will never face them again. There was so much brown, so much stray wood chips and small little plant pieces rushing away from him. Maybe if he was lucky, then maybe it all would go away. If water could clean off the filth, then if he stayed long enough... would the scars go away? Would the memories? If he stayed here long enough, could he march out with no memory that it happened at all and be the person that Kara and Alice need him to be? Would he be more caring with Alice instead of having heart-stopping fright whenever she hugged him? Would he be able to ask Kara why his system felt so strange but pleasant whenever she smiles? He strongly doubted it, but a foolish side of him hoped that physical filth wasn't the only thing water could fix.

He closed his eyes and let the purifying water sprinkle his face, already knowing that the drain would be buried in dirt by the time he was done. He focused specifically on the three thick claw marks on his eye, wishing it away with every small wish he had to offer. He wished away whatever the hell else was wrong with him, and when he got out of the shower in god knows when, he hoped that he would look in the mirror and see someone who has never heard of the name Zlatko or never seen the things that no one should. He wished to see someone with a clean face with no scratches or cracks, though he already knew that he would, but here was to hoping.

The mental alarm in his system told him it was about an hour and a half before he finally stopped the water. Most of his body was a faint blue from such a long time under the warm water, but he chose not to care about it, preferring being too warm than too cold. He felt cleaner than he had ever been before, but that stupid mirror was coming up, and he knew that feeling would be gone in a flash the moment he looked through to see who would be looking back. It was misty from the steam, so at least he'd have a chance to brace himself. After drying himself enough to be satisfied, he dressed himself into the sweatpants that Kara provided for him, and after staring a little bit too long in the mirror, he knew that he couldn't wait. So instead of grabbing the t shirt, his hand reached for the mirror, holding it there for a few seconds as he took an unsteady breath. Then, in one slow move, he wiped the fog off of it, and he froze as he at last met the face that has been hidden from him as long as he can remember.

The RK800 has a face.

Cayden has a face.

HE has a face.

Danger. That's the first thing that comes into his mind as he stares. The man in front of him looks dangerous. Unstable. Violent. His brown, nearly black, eyes were sharp and piercing, and he nearly made himself nervous looking into them as they glared challengingly. His brows, naturally low on his face, frowned, and he looked constantly uninterested or irritated. His mouth was thin, the lower slightly thicker than the top, but they weren't happy as they faced downwards in an impatient sneer. His wet hair was a tangled mess on his head, a few curly strands covering his eye. His jaw was round but sharp as an arrow, and if he wasn't careful, it could hurt someone. His cheeks were hollow like the soul inside this monster of a man. But it's not the features that truly scare him. No, it is the three black lines across his right eye, it's the cracks above his left brow, and it's the lines at the corners of his mouth that climb up his cheeks and angle itself up to his temples where his skull was ripped off. It's the faint black he could see at the corners of his eye or the fact that his pupils were chipped, some of it straying out of their circle and bleeding into his irises, making one area of his eye darker than another. Then as he looked hard enough on the one on his left, there was a small patch of green in his eye from when he replaced the lost chip in his eye. He wasn't exaggerating when he said that it stood out like a flamingo in a crowd of ravens. It was very small things that his camera lens eyes could barely catch, and if it came down to it, he could accuse his strange eyes as being genetic, but it just served to prove that his eyesight didn't return without a price.

This man in front of him looked cruel. He looked selfish. He looked like every bad thing in the world. Even his smiles, however good their intention, were shark-like and spine chilling. No matter what he did to try and soften himself, the creature was still cold. He was the kind of person that mothers would steer their children away from, and the kind that people would close their curtains to whenever he walked by their homes. He was someone he would never want two beautiful and kind people like Kara and little Alice to travel with. He could get them hurt, he could destroy them, he could ruin their lives no matter how much they assure him that he isn't. This monster in front of him could hurt them, is all he could think. _I'm going to tear them apart_, he says. _I'm going to ruin their lives and there's nothing you're going to be able to do about it_.

Cayden was full of the urge to tell them to run. To pack their things and leave before this man does what Cayden fears he might do. For now, he stares. He distracts him, keeps him occupied so he doesn't hurt anyone and gives his beautiful girls more time to prepare. He glares. _I've got you_, he snarls. _I won't let you hurt them anymore_.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when knuckles lightly tapped the door, and his trance from the monster broke.

"Cayden?" Kara asked from the other side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm..." he hesitates, taking one hardening glare at the man in front of him, as if warning him not to try anything. "I'm okay."


	7. A Close Call

Cayden got to meet Rose at last the next day. At least, met her properly without breaking down like an old car. There were no triggering footsteps to set off some attack, so this time he wasn't terrified of her like he was the first time.

"You'll be okay, right?" Rose asked in concern, noticing him walking closer after claiming that he wanted to talk to her.

"It's fine," he automatically said, thankful that she didn't know him like Kara did. He took a seat on the sofa opposite of the one she was, resting his elbows on his knees and automatically pulling out his quarter (with which Kara had given him after he was active enough to be able to use it), and flawlessly flicking it over his fingers to refrain from fiddling with them.

"Well, I'm delighted to see you walking," she started sincerely. "And I'm very pleased to meet you at last."

"It's, um..." he stuttered involuntarily, not really sure why he feels so nervous talking to her. "Yeah, it's.... good meeting you too."

"I've heard a little of what you went through, and I'm very sorry that you had to go through something so evil."

His heart warmed lightly at the sudden sympathy, a little caught off guard that another human was apologizing for another's actions. Did they always do that, or is that something only a particular number of them do? Either way, it was nice hearing that not every human thought digging into his chest was considered a good pass time. "

Thank you."

"Now I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me," she assumed, no pressure in her soft, motherlike gaze. "I'll answer what I can, but I'm only one person, so I may not have the answer to all of them."

"Who are you?" Cayden asked first.

"My name is Rose Chapman," she explained patiently. "My son's name is Adam, and you've been in my house for nearly four days."

"Why are you helping androids?"

"My family raised me to believe that kindness is free, but it's worth millions to the ones who need it. No matter what they're made of, if they need help, then I help them."

"But what made you open up to androids specifically?" he asked her, and her dark eyes turned sad as she recalled the memory.

"It was an android who'd been working in the traffic business," she told him. "Someone ran him over, and he'd been wandering aimlessly for days. I found him walking across my lawn and I just couldn't stand seeing him so hurt and alone, so I let him in and ordered all the parts I could and treated him as best I could. He must have told other androids about me, because ever since then I've had people on my porch asking me for help, and it's just become a part of my life, and it's helped me a lot since... since my husband's passing."

His pump sunk in sympathy, sincerely moved by the true emotion in her eyes, and again it was surprising how she wasn't at all what he was expecting when it came to another human. She wasn't cold like the only human he knew. In fact, she was everything that Zlatko wasn't, and he found himself slightly turning his armor down, but he didn't completely drop it yet.

"I'm sorry," he empathized.

"It's no one's fault," she assured.

"But that's something no one anyone should have to go through," he pushed. "If I lost Alice or Kara...."

"I have no regrets," she said. "I've had the best years of my life with him, and in the end, that's what I hold on to, and besides, in a way I feel like he's still here."

His brows furrowed, not certain how to take that final part. **Still here?** he puzzled. **As in..... not dead?**

"I mean spiritually," Rose corrected, most likely seeing his confusion. "He may be gone, but a part of me feels like he's watching out for me and Adam in another place."

"Oh," he said uselessly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for something you didn't know," she defended him. "That's why I'm here. Is there anything else you need to know?"

"Well," he hesitated, embarrassed for having to bring up such a humiliating subject, but he decided that it was something he needed to know. "When I was.... when I.."

"I understand," she finished, no judgement in her gaze, and it made him feel slightly better that she wasn't openly judging him.

"How did you know what was wrong?"

"When you do these kinds of things long enough, you start seeing the pattern. I know it was nothing personal, but I think it would really help you if you try to pinpoint what triggers something like that. That way your girls can make sure that they're extra careful to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Trigger?" he asked. "You mean these things don't just come up out of nowhere?"

"Sometimes, but I don't think that's your case," she claimed gently. "I think there's something specific that you see, hear, feel, or touch that reminds you of what you've been through, and that's what you need to avoid."

"But how can... how does something like that make me see.... that?"

"It's a little complicated," Rose said, but she started anyway. "Your central processing system has been running on a 'fight or flight' response for a long time, and during that time is a short-term memory formation, and sometimes their processors can misfile a tragic events of a past threat and turn it into a present threat, and when reminded of the threat their body reacts as if back in the event. It's not a choice, Cayden, and it's perfectly normal to have after effects after something like that."

**Nothing's normal about nearly panicking myself to death for no reason**, he grumbled in his mind, but he didn't say it aloud.

"I just think it may be best to adjust to the changes, because androids have the chance of self destructing if they're stressed-"

"I can't self destruct," Cayden said grimly, not really sure why he said it aloud.

"What do you mean?" she asked him gently.

"That was one of the first things to go," he confessed. "I almost didn't survive the first night, so he decided that he wanted to have as much fun with me without risking me bashing my heads in, so he dug into my processor while I was awake and ripped off the piece that triggers self destruct. So no, it's impossible for me to kill myself like that."

Her eyes were alight with pity, but luckily she didn't seem to think of him any differently and didn't look at him like he was seconds away from the edge, and he wanted to thank her for not lowering her view of him.

"Nonetheless," Rose continued nicely. "Discovering what makes you go back could do a great deal to help you recover."

Cayden took her words into consideration, and as he thought about it slightly, it might make more sense if the attacks had a reason for coming.

"Do you have any in mind?" she asked him, and he had to take a few moments to think it through.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, taking apart every moment of that attack and picking through it. "Maybe.... maybe footsteps. I could always hear them when he came for me. Or, not really the footsteps in particular. It was more the dread than anything else, or not knowing when something was going to happen."

"We can work with that," Rose encouraged. "Maybe Kara and Alice can use something to differentiate their steps from what you're used to so it won't trigger anything."

Cayden truly appreciated the fact that Rose was helping him with this, and though he couldn't quite trust her yet, he decided he may as well take her advice. If not for his sake, then for Alice's and Kara's, because if he really was going to be staying with them like he was hoping, being scared of them walking was not going to be cutting it. For their sake, he needed to get better as soon as possible, and if that meant telling the girls that he was scared of footsteps, then that was what he was going to do.

“ROSE!” His head jerked back as his hands instinctively made a fist, but as far as he knew, the only danger was a frightened android with tears in her eyes, looking more a danger to herself than anyone else given the blaring red circle on her temple. Rose was on her feet quickly, stiff and determined like someone had pressed a button and nothing mattered but the patient she was likely going to be helping.

Cayden, a little torn on what he was supposed to be doing, stood up from his chair and followed the commotion, leading what looked like a laundry room, but with no machines, but instead hidden behind white curtains, which made his pump jump into his throat at how familiar they looked to the one in his lab room.

“It’s Mary,” the android said gravely, “she just shut down.”

The android slid the curtains back, the sound making him flinch as it revealed a rather grim sight. A male android with dark skin, holding a limp woman in his lap, cradling her like a baby even though her light had turned an empty gray. He didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but given the look on others faces, he had a good idea what it signified. Tears were rolling down the stiff android's cheeks as he was covered in her blue blood, but didn’t seem to care. In fact, he didn't seem to care about ANYTHING at the moment. Someone could press a button in front of him that could begin World War 3, yet he'd still stand there lifelessly.

“We escaped together...” the grieving android said blandly. It was almost frightening how devoid of life it was, like an automated voice receiver you'd call on the phone. “We used to talk about what we’d do once we crossed the border.”

Rose approached the man with pain in her eyes that wasn’t hers as she looked at the deactivated android in his arms. And Cayden, for some reason, felt that his body didn’t have enough oxygen as his breathing went a little faster, his arms, legs, and chest feeling a little too warm than normal. He didn’t know why, but he was panicking, but he was hiding it well, though the illusion was breaking fast.

“I loved her,” the man said with a shattered voice. “I loved her more than anything."

He didn’t know how he was keeping this sudden panic at bay, but he doubted he’d be able to much longer. It only added fuel to the flame when the android spoke once again, and his thirium pump nearly stopped. "What would I do without her?"

It was too similar to his nightmares. A white room hidden behind white curtains with androids covered in their own blood, hopelessness and sorrow draining the air contagious to anyone breathing. He didn’t see Rose sympathetically rest one hand on the deceased woman’s forehead and another on the grieving lover’s shoulder as he finally broke down. The air was too thick, and he felt he couldn’t breathe the longer he looked. The scene was similar to Zlatko, but somehow he knew that that wasn’t the reason anxiety was crushing on top of him. Rose’s hand was on his shoulder once she was done, grimly looking away from the tragedy.

“Let’s give them some privacy,” she said. But he couldn’t move. Not when he heard Kara walk up behind him, or footsteps too padded and light to be an adult’s. The only time he looked back was when Kara and Alice were looking at the scene before them, Alice curiously but respectfully coming closer. He would have laid a hand out to stop her, to shield her from such a terrible sight, but Kara’s gently held his, holding him back and allowing Alice to see the laundry room that reeked of despair. The moment Alice stood only a few feet away from the grieving android, and their eyes meet, it was like he was in another world.

** I loved her more than anything** kept ringing in his head like a mantra. **What would I do without her?**

Suddenly the room around him changed, and he was helpless to it as he watched as the room darkened into a plot of space he knew far too well. His prison was laid out in front of him, taunting him like they knew what the sight did to him. Except this time, it wasn't just him. Instead of Cayden alone, this time, it was the damaged version of him, in the exact same position he sees this android in now, only instead of an unknown woman in his arms.... it's Kara, her beautiful blue eyes staring at the ceiling, but the spark that made her herself is long gone from her orbs. He saw himself sobbing as he begged her to come back to him, to come back. He didn't care how, he just wanted her back. Please, just give her back, and Alice is right there with him, her wails of agony strong enough to shake the molding walls of his mansion, and god, he can't handle it.

Cayden felt like he was cooking in this room, and he needed to get out now as his hyperventilating breaths became vocal. He knew that they were looking at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He needed to get out of this place NOW!

“Cayden?” He heard her voice, but everything was muffled and distorted in his ears as everything blurred together. Hands were pressing his shoulders, forcing him to look at a shadowy figure in front of him, but he couldn’t focus.

“I’m...” he gasped, “I need.... I need to... oh god...”

He was running before he even knew what he was doing, ignorant of the voices yelling behind him as he charged for the closest door, yanking it open as he felt a sharp nip of cold air on his face as he charged into the cold, wanting to stop the feeling of being burned alive. Everything was white in his vision as he gagged for air desperately, clawing at his throat to try and fight off Rex crushing his throat, resulting in him falling onto his knees as the world tilted like waves under his feet. The ground was cold, and it burned his fingers the longer he stayed in it. He needed to go.... he needed to protect Kara... he needed to hug Alice.... he needed... He choked on every breath like it was poison, but he couldn't do anything else, and god, he couldn't breathe. Why couldn't he breathe?

"K-Kah...." he gagged. "K.. Ka-ra plea.."

A voice was right in front of him, but he couldn't hear it, his messed up eyes growing three times larger as he suffocated because he couldn't breathe. Hands were pulling him up from his hands and knees, but he still couldn't look, heaving for any small whiff of air he could afford, but it was held back like some sick game no matter how much he begged and pleaded for it. The hands were kind but firm, but he couldn't focus on it because oh, god I don't wanna die. I don't want Alice to die I don't want Kara to die please don't let them die I'm begging you please don't-

He felt a palm press against his jaw and fingers securing its grip as they forced him to look at their owner and to a pair of blue eyes, full of life and worry instead of of bland and lifelessness ones his cruel mind made up. One of the hands on his jaw had disappeared, but he felt another one not too long afterwards grabbing the back of his head and gently pulling him into what felt like a sturdy chest. At first, he didn’t know what he was supposed to be looking for, but the question was answered for him once he felt something thrumming into his ear, and he soon realized that it was a heartbeat, a little fast but still a calm pace. Her chest vibrated, and he knew she was saying something through the mist, but he felt her breathing and heard her heartbeat and he couldn't help but try to mimic her breaths. Her body expanded as she took a deep breath, enabling Cayden to try and do the same no matter how much it hurt. She held it in for a few extra seconds before her torso shrank as she breathed out, and he copied the movements in a desperate thought that she would make it better. That she would save him, and he'd be able to breathe again.

The rumble in the air was gentle and rewarding, but she quickly did it again, with Cayden being a willing cooperator as he mirrored her breaths, piece by piece feeling his chest stop crushing itself. He focused on the steady thumping of her heart like parting from it would kill him, and being tucked into her the way he was, like an mother would her infant child, he couldn't help but feel safe as his breaths came back bit by bit, and more air passed through his nose after every long breath. Cayden didn't even notice himself relaxing the longer she held him, but slowly enough the tension on his shoulders was fading and he wasn't so closed off the way he was moments ago.

After a little bit, that cloud started to fade away as he could see farther away, and sounds becoming more clear, to the point where he could hear her quiet voice well enough on his own. His own heart that was pounding in his ears was only a few paces faster than Kara’s, and he didn’t need her coaching anymore to know when to take that now smooth breath that came in through his nose and out of his mouth, but that didn’t stop her from giving warm compliments whenever he did.

His mental clock told him he’d been there for twenty minutes, but it felt like years as he was finally relaxed enough to where he wasn’t in danger anymore. His airways were flawless now, and he couldn't help but close his eyes and relish the quiet sounds of his own breath and hers combined. He'd taken breathing for granted, and now that he knows what it's like without it, he can't imagine ever surviving without it. His throat was still sore, but he wasn’t feeling hot anymore, so he took that as a win. Then he found that he had once again made a fool of himself and had taken her valuable time because something scared him. Just how weak could he be in front of her?! his mind screamed at him. He was supposed to be the one helping them, but here he was tucked into her side like a weakling. He wasn't a child! He shouldn't need pathetic things like this keeping him from tearing himself apart. They didn’t deserve this. They didn't goddamn deserve any of this. The monster was winning. And Cayden was letting him, just like he said.

“I’m sorry...” he said quietly in defeat.

“Cayden, this is the last thing you should be apologizing for,” Kara insisted. He kept quiet since he didn’t feel like arguing right now.

“Come on,” she pushed, “lets get you inside.”

Almost like flicking a switch, he realized where he was and he bolted out of her reach, grasping what little dignity he had left by pretending that what just happened didn't happen. He didn't see the way her expression dropped slightly, but he couldn't bear it, so he just didn't care to look.

After being helped up by Kara, they both wordlessly made their way back inside, little Alice waiting for them inside in the form of an armful, and he couldn't help but lose some of the stiff humiliation on his body from dropping when Alice was holding onto him like he was the most steady thing in the world: a structure that could keep her from floating away, and again he was awe struck at how much this little girl really trusted him, something he was still so certain that he didn't deserve. The three of them sat down in her living room, Cayden dusting off some of the snowflakes stuck in his hair and clothes. He was expecting a quiet few hours to clear his head, but his plans were ruined when there was a loud voice behind them.

“We can’t hide them!” An irritated voice spoke up from behind him, and when he turned to look, it was who he believed was Adam, noting the similarities between the two, and after a quick scan, he learned he was indeed her offspring. The boy was pacing nervously in the kitchen while Rose did the dishes. “Not after what the deviants did today! It’s too dangerous.”

Cayden couldn’t help but feel his thirium run cold in his veins. He already knew that Adam was talking about them, and he was mixed between telling them to run or shutting Adam up.

“Do you know what the police will do if they find us?” He demanded frighteningly, and even Rose looked done as her hands rested a little too firmly on the counter.

“We’ll go to prison, mom! Do you understand me? PRISON!”

“Adam, we’ve already talked about this,” clearly pissed, she was trying to keep things calm unlike the teenager who was nearly shaking at the knees. Adam wasn’t making it any easier.

“No! I won’t back down this time!” Adam pressed. “You’ll ruin our lives, and what? For a bunch of machines?!”

“They are NOT machines!” Rose suddenly snapped, clearly losing her temper.

“They’re alive!” “No, I’M alive!” He roared. “YOU’RE alive! Them...... They’re NOTHING! And none of this would be happening if dad was still here!”

“I will not stand for that kind of talk,” Rose warned, pointing an accusing finger at the teenager who wouldn’t back down.

“I’m not going to prison because you want to help these freaks!” Adam hissed.

“THAT IS ENOUGH, ADAM!!” Rose suddenly shouted, making the entire household freeze in shock at the sweet woman losing her temper. “THAT’S ENOUGH!!”

He hated how Alice tensed in his arm, and Cayden had to tighten his grip on Kara’s shoulder and Alice’s body to refrain from giving that kid a bruise for talking ill about his family. He knew Kara understood when she squeezed back. That seemed to get Adam to shut up, because he heard his stomping footsteps walking away, hearing a door opening and slamming shut. The next few minutes were tense, but things calmed down a bit when Rose sat on one of the smaller chairs on the other side of them.

“Are you okay?” She asked them first off, and Cayden was quick to nod his head to reassure her that they were fine. Her voice was a little cracked when she spoke again.

“Don’t mind him...” she said quietly. “Sometimes he just boils over.”

Cayden had to admit that he could understand that. He might get it, but he was still seeing red because that boy had insulted his family while they were listening. Who the hell does that? He might as well have marched in front of his face and spat out that Kara and Alice were less than humans, and even the thought of that made his hands curl into fists.

“It’s just been hard...” he hated seeing how her eyes were a little shinier than they should be, and he hated seeing how her breath was a little more choppy. “It’s been hard since his dad passed away. But he’s a fine boy.”

He wanted to believe her about that, but he just couldn’t let that go unless he himself was apologizing, but he decided not to voice it out and risk antagonizing her more than she already was. Her cheeks had turned wet, but she still kept going.

“I’ll see to it that you get across the border tonight, Okay?” She said, and Cayden felt like a few dozen bricks had been dropped off him because after all this time just talking about it, it was actually going to happen. Kara and Alice would be safe.

"I also have something for you, Cayden," she stated, leaning sideways and pulling a brown purse her direction. He sat there quietly as she rummaged through her items, but he had to admit he was a little confused as to what this short but round container was supposed to be for.

"It'll help hide the marks," she said to him. "I got as close to your skin color as I could."

She held it out, and Cayden wordlessly took it, looking at it like it held all the secrets of the universe in its contents.

“Stay here,” she said, standing up and walking away. “I won’t be long.”

The three only sat there long after Rose had left the house, seeming to soak in the fact that by this time tomorrow, they could be in Canada; they could stop running and finally have the chance to live like people at long last. He already knew just by hearing it that that would take a VERY long time to get used to since that kind of life was the only one he truly knew.

“Are we really going to the border tonight?” Little Alice asked, and Cayden couldn’t help the smile that peered through a tip of his lip.

“Yeah,” Kara confirmed. “We won’t have to hide anymore.”

It was a few more minutes until everyone was frightened by the ring of the doorbell. For a moment everyone tensed, wondering who was at the door, or who should answer before Adam checked the window close to the front door, and what he said next made everybody’s hearts and thirium pumps stop.

“It’s the police!”

Mumbling a curse under his breath, he suddenly sprung into action, taking control of the situation, which surprised him in a way he didn’t know was possible despite how he could feel the next panic attack coming on. Regardless, he still took the lead.

“Adam, I need you to wait with Alice and Kara upstairs,” he ordered the scared teenager. “You know this house best. Find the best hidden spot you can and don’t come down until I tell you.”

“But what if he-“

“Adam, just do it,” he pressed.

Reluctantly, he did do as he was told as he and Alice jumped upstairs and into a random room, but Kara wasn’t with them.

“Kara, you need to go with them,” he told her, though she was busy racing across the living room and hiding the thirium packets inside the stairway closet.

“I’m not leaving you alone on this,” she demanded stubbornly.

“It’s too dangerous,” Cayden pleaded.

“Wouldn’t it be suspicious to you if a single person owned this big a house?” She insisted, shutting the lights off in the closet and shutting the door behind her. “It’d be a lot more believable if you had a recently wedded wife here with you.”

He didn’t know why, but that final phrase made his thirium pump feel like it had grown five times bigger and was threatening to burst from his chest, or why he felt his cheeks heat up, but he quickly snapped out of his trance as the doorbell rang again.

“Alright,” he grumbled.

They both swiftly hid every piece of evidence, while Cayden also took very little time in covering his face thoroughly with the makeup until he truly could pass as human, and by the time they’d hid everything, it was a dangerously long amount of time since the doorbell rang, and he might attempt forcing it open if they waited any longer. Taking a deep breath and nodding reassurance to Kara who was on the couch for effect, he opened the door gently, a police officer right at their doorstep, hands folded in front of him.

“Good evening, mister,” he said politely, and though it might have been good will, he felt pythons crawl around his body and crush him to pieces in fear. “Sorry to disturb you. We’ve had reports of androids in the area. With all this deviant business going on, you can’t be too careful.”

“No, I understand,” he pretended to agree as his pump was pounding in his throat, but he hid it behind a calm mask, somehow controlling every inch of his face in order to fool the cop. Was he always able to do that? “How can I help?”

“Is it alright if I ask you a few questions?” He asks, as if he had any other choice than to say yes.

“Yes, of course,” he smiled, opening the door wider to welcome him inside, and he prayed he didn't just kill them all right there. “Come on inside.”

“Thank you.”

With a nerve wracking slowness, the man stepped inside with loud steps, scanning every inch of the house, and Cayden was confident that he was going to find something.

“Good evening, ma’am,” he tipped his hat to Kara, who was nestled comfortably on the couch, and being the genius she was, even settled an open book on her lap to make it even more believable.

“Good evening, sir,” she smiled. “Is everything okay?”

“Perfectly fine, miss,” the cop replied. “I just need to ask a few questions.”

“Of course,” she said. “Can I get you some coffee?”

“I’d love some, thank you,” the cop smiled, and had started walking around the house. And every step there was, he had to keep reminding himself _It's not him it's not him it's not him_ because the likeness was FAR too similar than he'd prefer.

“So have you seen any strange visitors as of late?” The cop questioned. “Any unexpected visitors?”

“No, not that I’ve seen,” Cayden replied, surprised at how convincing he was. How was he so good at lying? “We rarely get ANY visitors. I mean, you’ve seen the roads, they can be a nightmare in the cold.”

“Is there anyone else in the house?” The cop questioned, peering upstairs, and Cayden’s pump jumped into his throat in fright. Kara answered that time from inside the kitchen.

“Our daughter,” she replied, and he could have sworn he felt a sledgehammer in the stomach. “She’s sleeping off her fever right now.”

“I understand,” the cop said. “Do you have any androids in your possession?”

“We used to,” Kara lied, and he was surprised at how good SHE was at lying too. “But the taxes got too bad and we couldn’t afford it. We do our own work these days.”

The process of watching the cop circle around the room was doing no mercy to his anxiety. Kara was taking it like a champion as she gave the police officer a mug of hot coffee with a charming smile, and yet again he couldn't help but think of how much stronger she was than him, and that same spark lit up despite the situation.

“Thank you,” the officer said again.

“It’s no problem,” she assured. “Hey, babe, remind me that we need to buy some more sugar.”

He was basically short circuiting by how flushed he became at the nickname, but it seemed to do the trick since the cop seemed to be falling for the normalcy of the scene. Since he hasn’t pulled out a gun yet, Cayden liked to think they were doing a good job. A few more heart stopping paces around the house, and the cop finally said something.

“I better go,” he said, and Cayden knew that meant they were in the clear. “Thanks again for the coffee.”

That would be the case if there wasn’t a thud Inside the laundry room, and it caught the cop’s attention just as he was nearing the front door. Cayden kept chanting in his mind that they were going to get caught over and over again.

“Are you sure there’s no one else in the house?” Despite feeling his harmless stress levels skyrocket, he answered as casually as he could.

“That’s, um....” he panicked. “That’s just our washing machine. It’s an old model and it makes a terrible racket.”

“You'd know a lot about terrible rackets, wouldn't you?” Kara teased, as if trying to calm him down as she winked across the room. He tried playing along.

“Ha ha ha ha. Hilarious,” he mocked drily. “You’re lucky I love you.”

His eyes almost popped out of his skull. He hadn’t meant to say that! Despite Cayden on the brink of a circuit failure, the cop seemed fooled.

“Well, I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” he said, opening the door. “Good evening ma’am. Mister.” Nodding his head, he counted the seconds until the man had finally shut the door behind him and drove away before he finally huffed out in relief, Kara doing the same but adding a small chuckle at the end.

“Alright, it’s safe!” He called out, and within moments, a jumpy Adam was coming down, followed by Alice who quickly bombarded Cayden and Alice in a hug.

“It’s okay, Alice,” Kara said, “we’ll be safe now.”

Once the android got his breath straight, he smiled at Kara in relief.

“Nice acting,” she complimented, and for the slightest moment, he felt his smile falter as he wanted to say that not all of it WAS acting. Maybe that one tiny little slip up. But she didn’t need to know about this, so he quickly built it back up as he let her believe it was part of the act.

“Y-Yeah,” he stuttered. “You too.”

The back door opened up, and as he quickly pushed Alice and Kara behind him as a means of protection, he saw it was pointless as Rose walked inside, wet from the snow but face serious as she looked at the family of deviants.

“Get yourselves ready,” she said. “We leave tonight.”


	8. Jericho

Cayden had never been in a quieter car ride. It was dark outside, and if not for the white blanket of snow, it would have been dangerously hard for Rose to drive through all this. Kara was in the front seat while he and Alice stayed in the back; the little girl asleep with her head in his lap. He didn’t know where they were going, but enough has happened where he found himself trusting Rose to get them to the border, and even if she was trying to lead them somewhere worse... then he had a perfectly loaded pistol resting behind his belt if things did somehow turn south. If he would have the courage to pull the trigger if that time came.. he wasn’t sure if he could.

As he looked outside, he saw the first person he'd seen since their arrival walking the street, and he frowned as he saw.... why the hell were his sleeves glowing? What was he doing in the middle of the night when no one else seemed to want to go out? Then came the soldiers, and he could have sworn they appeared out of thin air. The android was just minding his own business, holding a bag of groceries in his hands when a guard aimed his gun. The car had passed by the scene, but it didn't shield them from the loud BANG of the gun being shot, and anyone could guess the aftermaths of that.

He shut his eyes tight, genuinely terrified that they were heading into the heart of it. They hadn't even entered the port, and he just saw an android get executed on the spot. They were heading into a region where being an android was an instant death sentence, and he wanted to beg Rose to turn around and find another way. Unfortunately, there wasn't so he could only keep his mouth shut. How thankful he was that Alice hadn’t heard it, because he doubted that the sound would ever get out of his head now. Kara seemed to notice his quietly hitched breath, so she reached out a hand from the front seat to reach him, resting it on his knee, and almost like magic, he saw her eyes looking at him, and he felt himself calming down, silently mouthing that he was okay, and that was the end of that. They both kept their eyes on the world passing by, and Cayden couldn’t help but notice how sinister this place looked at night. The streets that probably should have been bustling about, even this late at night, were a deadly silent, and he was wondering what happened to make a city of this size so quiet.

“Where is everybody?” He finally asked.

“Androids are being rounded up by officials to recycling centers,” Rose said grimly, “those that aren’t are being executed on the streets. They’re turning the city upside down in search for androids; machine or deviant; and they’re going to redo the system. Those that aren’t androids are too scared to leave their house in fear of being mistaken.”

“Damn...” He thought worriedly.

“You won’t need to worry about that, though. I’m sending you to an android shelter; well hidden and and invisible to humans. There’s an android that can help you: Markus. He can get you all tickets to the last bus to the border, but you need to be fast. The bus leaves by midnight, and you absolutely need to be on it.”

“What’s this shelter?” Kara asked.

“It’s a large freighter called Jericho. Markus is what you could call their leader, so it won’t be too hard to find him in there.”

A few minutes passed, and Rose had finally stopped the car in an quiet alley covered in trash but hidden. Being gentle, the android shook Alice’s shoulder, nudging her awake. It didn’t take long for her drooping brown orbs to find his.

“This is our stop,” he said gently, and she tiredly sat herself up and let him unbuckle her as he helped her out of the car. When he looked up, he saw a very starry sky above them, and if this hadn’t been a life or death situation, he might have wanted to stare up at them all night, but he quickly turned back to Rose, who was hurriedly meeting the three.

“Here,” in her outstretched hand was a small bundle of cash, which Kara gratefully accepted. “It may not be much... but it’s a start. When you cross the border, you need to get to my brother. He lives in Ontario, and I’ve given you the address. He’ll be able to hide you until things calm down.”

Cayden bowed his head in understanding, and he knew this was where they’d have to say goodbye. It was understandable that she’d do Alice first.

“You’re such a brave girl, Alice,” she said to the girl, wrapping her in a loving hug. “You deserve to be happy.”

Kara was next as she unwrapped from the girl and faced the girl’s mother.

“Thank you for everything, Rose,” Kara said thankfully as they wrapped their arms around each other.

“Be sure to call me once you’re over there, okay?” Rose begged wetly.

“I will,” Kara quickly assured her. “I promise.”

After their hug was finished, he knew it was his turn as she walked in front of him now.

“You take good care of them,” she ordered him like he somehow needed to be told to do it.

“I will,” he smiled softly, and she seemed twitchy as she seemed to want a hug but was refraining for his sake, and the one thing that was in his head at that moment was **why the hell not?** He pulled her into the embrace first, and though she had a few seconds of shock, she was hugging him back.

“Thank you for taking care of my family,” he said quietly so that only Rose could hear it.

“You can thank me by asking Kara out on the other side.”

His eyes were wider than dinner plates at the sudden favor, and the dreaded hotness on his cheeks was back.

“Uh... w-what are you-“

“Oh, please, I know heart eyes when I see them,” she unwrapped with a sad smirk. Thank RA9 this conversation was quiet, because he’d self destruct at the spot if Kara was listening in. “Don’t wait too long. I don’t think Kara likes the wait either.”

“Wait, what?” He questioned her, but she was already walking away and getting back into her car. With a final goodbye, she drove off, and the three were on their own again.

“Hey, Cayden, you okay?” Kara asked him. “You look a little blue.”

“Uh.... i-it’s the cold...” he stuttered out uselessly. Thankfully she didn’t press the matter since they had more pressing matter to deal with than the color of Cayden’s cheeks. “It’s best we don’t hang about. We’ve got a bus to catch.”

To be honest, when he heard freighter, he really expected a decent sized fishing boat across the water. Now he wished he could smack the thirty-seconds-ago him by how wrong he was. The ship was probably a few meters away from being an entire cruise, taking up most, if not all of the ship port. Though there was nothing special about this particular boat since it was decaying from age, he was not surprised at all that it could fit an entire population of deviants. It could probably fit twice the amount they have in there. And soon enough, he realized that as they stepped inside, and though Cayden didn’t know what to expect, this was by far the last thing he would have thought of. Several screens were hanging on the wall while hundreds of androids watched on curiously at the news. This place really did look like an android safe haven no matter how filthy it was.

“We’ve got to get Alice warm,” Kara stated as she and Cayden spread out to find a warm source for the girl. The place was pitch black other than the bright monitors, so he didn’t have to work that hard to find something bright that could work for warmth. He nudged his way through crowds, weaving past androids that mostly bore the same face. It was a little scary, and a few times he’d pause in a crowd and think **didn’t I pass you already?** before reminding himself that there were at least fifty of the same faces. He was near a stairway, curiously looking this way and that to find a heat source, and he found himself noticing that his heart was racing much more than it should have, feeling it jump every time someone bumped into him, but this wasn't a Zlatko fear. It didn't piece together since there was no reason he'd be scared of crowds when before he never even saw ONE android during his captivity. Perhaps it was overwhelming, he decided. Yeah, that might be a good answer. Either way, he noted for later that this was not going to cut it. Maybe when they got to Canada, he could convince them to stay in a secluded wood cabin in the middle of nowhere, because honestly, that sounds like paradise right about now.

"Cayden!" Kara's voice snapped him out of his plans, and saw that she was racing his way.

"We found a spot," she said to him. "Let's go before you get yourself trampled."

Kara's hand was in his, and he let himself be dragged away to whatever region of the freighter where Alice would be.

God why did EVERYBODY have to be talking at the SAME TIME? he complained. It was everywhere, he couldn't completely focus on one thing because there were conversations leading this way and that and it just felt SO overwhelming and he wanted to wrap himself in a blanket and tuck himself away into a corner and not talk to anybody for the next ten years. Was that normal, or was that just him? Maybe he could ask Kara about it later, because this was stressful as hell and he had no idea how she was acting so chill about this.

"I need to go talk to Marcus and talk about getting those tickets," she stated. "Think you could stay with Alice?"

"We're not coming?" he wondered, and Kara quickly explained.

"Alice is exhausted, and I would like to keep you both somewhere I can find you. That, and I can tell crowds aren't your favorite, so I don't want to plow you through one. It's just up there, I promise."

**Okay, that makes sense**, he agreed. He wouldn't want himself in a crowd either, but he still didn't like the worry that built up at the thought of Kara leaving without him to keep watch of her, but Alice needed him more at the moment, so he knew there was no other choice.

"Okay," he caved. "You get those tickets. We'll be waiting by the fire."

Leaving the two of them seemed to be the last thing she wanted to do, but she had no choice, and Cayden drowned out the piercing what ifs that made him want to call Kara back and keep her safe. He refrained to sitting down next to a huddled up Alice on the crates in an attempt to maybe drown them out if not for a little while. Alice herself didn't seem to be in top shape at the moment, so he tried focusing on that first.

“Are you doing okay?” He asked her.

“I’m okay,” she said, and he could tell she wasn’t feeling like talking too much. So he left it at that, the two of them sitting together in silence, the chattering of deviants and crackle of television news blaring through the atmosphere. It was honestly weird in his point of view, seeing how he had spent at least a year inside of Zlatko’s torture house seeing maybe one android a month if he was lucky, and now he couldn’t turn his head in any direction without seeing at least six of them. Overwhelming wasn’t a strong enough word to describe it, but it was definitely up there.

“Cayden?” His attention peaked as little Alice said his name, surprisingly scared for some reason.

“Yes?” He asked, resting his elbows on his legs, giving the girl his full attention.

“Would... would you hate me if I was keeping a secret from you?”

His brows furrowed at the unexpected question, but he answered it honestly.

“Alice, I could never hate you,” he assured her.

“But what if I told you that you wouldn’t see me the same?”

“I don’t think you understand,” he said patiently, “no matter what you could do, what you’ve seen, or where you’ve been, you’re still the Alice I promised to protect, and nothing you say can ever change that.”

Alice looked torn, like she was fighting to believe him. He had to admit he was a little curious as to what she was trying to say, but there was no way he was going to pressure her into saying something she didn’t want to.

“Can you promise me you won’t run away?” She asked him.

“I promise.”

It was a large sledgehammer to the heart seeing that Alice was convinced that she could scare him away. Did he not show how much he cared enough? Did he give off some signal that showed that he wouldn't like what she was about to show him? He was nearly about to short circuit as he dissected every single moment with him trying to detect any dishonesty or cold shoulder moment, but he was interrupted by Alice, who, after a nervous gulp, had offered her hand palm up, like she was wanting him to inspect it.

Cayden was expecting to find some sort of birth mark on her hand. He was expecting to laugh and tell her that a mark wouldn't keep him away from her, but all words died in his throat when her skin dissolved in a streak of blue, and when it was done, her skin was a pristine white that shined in the fire in front of them.

He probably stared at her white hand longer than he should have, but his mind was slow on catching up to a fact that was so painfully obvious. How did he not know?! Why didn't he pay attention?! She shouldn't have had to tell him this, because he should have been able to figure it out himself. Isn't that his job? Isn't he supposedto know these things? Alice should NOT have had to point this secret out to him, because he should have been paying enough attention to her to notice. He'd have loved to point out his flaws, but Alice was about to burst into tears, so he deducted that scolding himself could wait for when Alice wasn't doubting his affection.

He was quick to smile as he looked Alice in the eye, seeing her flinch, as if expecting a punishment, and as an answer, he disabled the skin on his own hand and held their white hands together, giving her his first real smile that made his eyes crinkle at the ends.

“You’re not mad?” She wondered.

“Why would I be mad?” He questioned. “This is just another way that you and I are alike.”

“My dad used to hit me for showing the white,” she said sadly, “he said it was ‘weird and unnatural’.”

“He was wrong,” he quickly shut that idea down. “He was wrong to punish you for being what you are.”

And deciding that she deserved an apology, he figured he might as well point out his obvious mistake.

"I'm sorry if I said something or did something to make you think I wouldn't like you," he said as honestly as he could. "But you need to know that no matter what, I care about you for you."

“Do you think Kara will be mad at me?” Alice asked him like he knew all the answers of the world. Cayden refrained from laughing at how bad a question that was and answered.

“How could Kara be mad at you for being an android? It doesn’t change anything. You’re still the little girl she rescued from her father. You’re still the girl she gave a bedtime story to, and you’re the same girl that she is risking her life for to give you the life you deserve. She wouldn’t care that your blood is blue.”

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I had good friends who left me when I showed them.”

“That’s not going to happen with us,” he promised. “We love you, Alice, and nothing you do can change that.”

“You mean the same way you love Kara?”

His jaw would have dropped to the groundif he was physically able to as he gawked at the girl. Rose figuring it out was embarrassing enough, so HOW THE HELL DID THE NINE YEAR OLD FIND OUT?!? Was he THAT bad at hiding it? Oh god, what if Kara already knew?!

“Um...” he sputtered anxiously. “I-it’s not that... no I-I wouldn’t.... it’s just that-“

“It’s okay,” Alice said sweetly, leaning into his side, “I think it’s cute how you both think you’re good at hiding it.”

Cayden’s entire face turned blueberry blue as he avoided her eyes, hoping she wouldn’t notice how flushed he was.

“I, Uh.... i don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You like her,” she said, as if it was obvious, “you LIKE like her.”

His eyes darted around the area in fear that Kara might be nearby and listening to them, but was relieved when he saw no trace of her white hair from the crowd.

“She likes you, too,” the words made him short circuit as his head jerked to the girl, “she hasn’t said it, but she likes you. I know because she does the same turning blue thing you’re doing when she looks away from you.”

“No,” he denied. “No, there’s probably another reason. I don’t think she actually likes me.”

“She does,” Alice insisted. “Back at the Rose’s house, when you were sick, you were twitching and gasping in your sleep while Kara was looking for other damages. When she started messing with your hair to look for cuts, you quieted down. She spent the rest of the night doing that, and she looked like she was smiling through most of it.”

Cayden couldn’t believe his ears. She really spent a whole night calming him down? **As if she didn’t already lose enough time for me**, he thought as shame sucker punched him in the chest.

“I think you should tell her,” Alice suggested.

“We’ll have time for that later,” he refused, “now we need to work on getting onto that bus.”

“But you need to,” she pressured lightly, and he decided that he wasn’t getting away with not giving her an answer.

“I’ll make you a deal,” he eventually said, “I’ll ask her out if you tell her about your android side.”

He saw her tense in his arms, and as much as he hated seeing her scared, he knew this had to be done.

“Kara loves you for you, Alice; not because she thinks you’re human.”

“.....okay. I trust you,” she said sadly. “I’ll say it quick so you get on that date.”

Dread pooled his stomach at the thought of even attempting to ask her out, and he knew he probably dug his own grave just then. However, a promise was a promise, and he’d rather cut his leg off again than make a promise he wasn’t going to keep. He didn’t hear any more on the matter since Alice wasn’t appearing too hyped about telling her mother. At least until another shocking subject was brought up that he wasn't expecting in a hundred years.

“I saw another you,” she said, “but the other one looked scarier.”

“What?" he frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"There was another you," she said again, like it was an obvious fact. "But he was all mean looking."

"No, that can't be possible," he quickly denied. "I'm the only RK800 there is, so it's impossible for there to be another one. maybe that was just me walking through the crowd."

"But it couldn't be you," she insisted. "He was wearing a beanie and he had different clothes on. And he looked like the one that chased us through a busy street."

He froze in shock, because what the hell did she mean busy street?! She didn't mean an actual... rushing highway... right?

“What do you mean ‘chased you through a busy street’?” he asked carefully, scared of what his answer would be.

“He was with the police, and they wanted to take us away so we had to run but the android that looks like you went after us. We went into a busy highway, but he followed us in there too. We almost got hit a lot of times, and he grabbed Kara, but she pushed him away. That was the last time I saw him.”

Whether this other him was real or not, if he was, he was getting a bullet to the skull if Cayden ever saw him face to face.

“I’m sorry,” he said to Alice. “You shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

“It’s okay,” she said into his jacket, “we’ve got you to protect us now.”

His pump had swelled as quickly as it stopped, and he couldn’t help but let a slow smile reach his face as pressed Alice into his side more.

“Yeah,” He said, “I’ll protect you. And I promise I won’t let that android anywhere near you.”

He heard her footsteps coming their way, and Kara was weaving their way through the crowds.

“The entire city is shut down,” she explained, “no one can go in or out, so we’ll have to stay here for a little while until things calm down.”

Alice dug into Cayden’s side a little more, looking like she wanted to run out the nearest door and never come back out. Once Kara sat down, she seemed to notice the sudden fear as she kneeled down on her level.

“Alice, what’s wrong?” She asked her gently.

Cayden was held in a place where screams and wails of agony were common as traffic in New York city, he's heard Zlatko's laugh that sent chills down anyone's spine, he's heard a man being beaten to death, and he's heard his own screams as Zlatko dug into his head and ripped off the self destruct chip. Hearing Alice weep silently was the most heart wrenching sound he's ever heard. Kara looked to him for an explanation, and he gestured that she had something to tell her.

“Alice, you know you can tell me anything, right?” She assured her, stroking the girl’s hair lovingly.

“I’m sorry, Kara,” she sniffled, beginning to loosen her hold on Cayden. Instead, she looked Kara in the eye as she held open her hand like she did with him, and before Kara could frown in confusion, she revealed her plasmic white skin, and Kara’s eyes widened.

Her face was unreadable as she spent the next few seconds looking at her in shock. Alice was stiff as a board, and he wanted to hug her and hide her away from anyone that could make her feel this bad. He knew she needed this, and he was positive beyond all doubt that Kara would have no problem with Alice’s secret, but the pause was a little unnerving, even to him. He couldn’t imagine how much stress this was putting on Alice’s systems.

“Alice, you’re....” She said in awe.

“What difference does it make?” He eventually spoke up, and both eyes were on him. “She's still your Alice.”

Kara was still frozen, and Cayden couldn’t understand if she was ready to run or ready to hug her, but he knew that if she did turn her back on her child, he didn’t know what he’d do. But he didn’t have to worry about it as Kara’s eyes shined slightly as she sat herself down and slammed Alice into her chest, Alice quickly curling into it as her body sagged in relief.

Cayden sighed as he smiled once again at the gentle scene, grateful that Alice telling her mother had its intended effect as Kara beamed at her child, her eyes closed as she held Alice; now confessed as an android; close to her. They blinked open to look at him with a gratitude too big for words as she outstretched a free hand. A little curious, he took her small hand in his larger one, and she tugged him closer to the two girls, and with a light chuckle, he did what he was told and joined the pile, wrapping his arms around both of them.

He thought it was nice holding Alice or Kara by themselves, but with both of them together, he felt a relaxed contentment that swallowed him whole as he smiled into the group hug. His pump was threatening to melt in happiness in his torso as he finally accepted that he was in fact a part of this family. Not a tag-along, or a guide, or a pity party. He belonged here just as much as Alice did. And he decided that he’d do everything in his power to make sure that everyone got to the border. He still wouldn’t hesitate to give his life, yet he feared he may hurt them if he dies on them now. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to.

None of them were worrying about their tickets now. The only thing that existed in their world were just the three of them; no walking on eggshells to avoid authorities, no time limits, no humans threatening to blow their brains out. It was just these three, and if losing the bus meant sitting here with these three in his arms for eternity, then he’d wave that bus goodbye with a smile on his face.

He should have noticed the sudden sound that came in sooner, but it was a very small and insignificant noise, so he didn’t pay attention to it at first. But then it slowly got louder, as if coming in from a long distance. Cayden's brows furrowed at the sound as he lifted his head up, and looked at the ceiling as if it would give him a long and detailed description of what that sound was. The two girls didn’t seem to notice what was going on, but he felt a warm chill of unease crawling in his skin. The sound was an odd one, mixed between a loud mechanical whine and amplified bumblebee, and it became more obnoxious the closer it came. Now on edge, he slowly unwrapped from the embrace, scanning the area like a deer in a hunter infested woods as he waited to see if the sound was anything to be concerned about.

“Cayden, are you alright?” Kara asked, and he quickly shushed her as he scanned the sound without any interruption despite how confused she was. The sound was almost hurting his audio sensors by how loud it had become, and during that time, he noted that there was another sound coming their way, more quiet but just as frightening. He counted thirty two heavy tires in all, driving in a straight line outside the boat. A helicopter... eight cars outside, all heading towards the same place. An ice pick stabbed his chest in fear once he put it all together.

“We need to go,” he ordered. “We need to go right now!”

“Cayden, what’s happening?” She asked him.

“They found us,” he said quickly, trying to hide the fright in his voice for their sake. It was scary enough having a neutral cop with his face walking around, but now there were at least a hundred aggressive ones coming with the intent to kill who were going to be slamming open the front door. “WE NEED TO GO!”

Kara seemed just as afraid as he was, and she seemed to notice as soon as the other androids in the facility did, quickly standing up and holding Alice’s hand with an iron grip. He would have started ordering them around before the spray of bullets tore through the main room.

“GET DOWN!!” He screamed as he threw the girlsto the floor.


	9. The Raid

What was once a chattering room was now filled with terrifying screams as androids dropped dead, the crowd now racing for the nearest exit in fear of their lives.

“FOLLOW THE CROWD!!” He commanded, “GO!!”

Scrambling to their feet, they raced out to catch up with the quickly disappearing crowd, hoping that they’d lead them to another exit in order to escape from all this. Every dead corpse they passed was branded into his mind like a tattoo that would never wither, and he was sure it’d remain in theirs as well, but he kept his head screwed in in order to get them out alive. Random androids turned random directions, and the protection of many was starting to disappear rapidly, so he knew they’d have to be careful from now on. There were two guards in the hallway in front of them, and they quickly raised their guns at the fleeting group and Cayden had to act quickly.

“THIS WAY!!” He screamed as he turned to a hallway to his right just as they started to open fire, the sickening drop of bodies replacing what was once their screams. The entire ship was a maze, and he had no idea where he was going unless he was avoiding a shooter. Thank whatever higher power was above them that Kara and Alice were right by his side despite the fact that he was running with an adrenaline that powered his legs into an inhuman speed and clouded his judgement until only one thought became absolutely clear:

**GET ALICE AND KARA OUT.**,

They trusted him enough that they followed his lead as he went through turn by turn. So many bodies. So many screams. So many bullets. If he hadn’t been high on adrenaline right now, he might have have a system malfunction that was the panic that reeked in the air from the horrifying scenes and noises.

He noticed a heavy door on a hallway a few feet away, and he hoped that if they locked themselves in there for the time being, they’d clear out once they were done and miss this room. Throwing himself onto the door, he yanked on the circular wheel, shoving the door open.

“Over here!” He told them, and they willingly ran inside, waiting for them to make their way inside before bolting in himself and slamming the door shut behind him.

One wrong move and it would all be over was the only thing he heard ringing in his head. One second too late and all that fighting to get them to safety would be in vain. That was why the pistol was locked and loaded in his hand, and he always kept it ready to kill despite how a nasty nausea settled into his gut at the thought of willingly ending a life. Rex was traumatic enough, and he never really had much a life to take. However, killing a living being capable of thought and emotion, even if they were hunting them down? It made him want to vomit thirium at even the possibility, but he would do it with no hesitation if it meant giving Kara and Alice a chance to get to safety.

All of the rotting halls looked the same, and even though he had no idea where to go, they followed behind him, trusting him to get them out of here before it was too late. God, the screams were so vivid and thick in the atmosphere that he nearly choked on it, there were too many dead androids, too much thirium tracing the ground below them like spilled paint, and he was nauseated in finding that his boots were covered in it, and even after it dissolved an hour later, he'd still be able to see the filth. It was one of the most horrifying things he'd ever seen, and if he'd ever hated humans before, that was the moment he decided that they were more savage than all evils known in their world. Who in their right minds would agree with such a heinous task as this? How can these soldiers sleep in their beds at night when they're being held accountable for genocide as wicked as this? Cayden knew that he would never fully understand humans, and with the little he's known from the handful of people in his small life, he wasn't sure if he wanted to, because he'd imagine that only the most mad would be able to look into their lives and agree with such dark mindsets that could lead to shooting down unarmed androids that had no chance to fight back.

He heard the thumping footsteps behind them before he heard the sharp as a blade gunfire, immediately ducking his head as he avoided the whizzing bullet that would have nestled right into his skull had he been a split second too late. Alice was within arms reach, and he was quick tucking her in as much as he could from the fire as another round began. His hand reached out for Kara, wanting to feel her arm and yank her into a protective hug that could save her life from the rainfall of bullets that could end their journey with one bad move. He swore he had never felt a worse panic when instead of the feel of her skin he was rewarded with, it was her scream.

And having to face the sight of seeing Kara collapse to the floor.

She was bleeding.

"KARA!!" he screamed in horror, his arm acting out on its own accord as he pulled out the pistol, not hesitating to pull the trigger with impeccable aim as the bullet found the soldier's helmet, and the human's body turned limp as he bonelessly fell to the floor.

Fighting against the desire to freeze in place and gawk at the now dead corpse, he forced himself to snap out of it, choosing to save it for later as he fell to his knees beside the fallen android who was thankfully still alive, but by the way her cheeks were wet and she was biting her lip with a strength that nearly ripped it off, he didn't have to ask to know that it wasn't good. Her shoulder had turned velvet blue, and her calf appeared motionless as she pointlessly tried picking herself up.

"Kara, come on, we gotta go!" Cayden encouraged. He couldn't afford to acknowledge the tears in her eyes as she cried out every time she attempted to put pressure on her leg.

"I can't..." she whimpered. "I can't.."

"Get up!" he roared with an authority he didn't even know he possessed.

"Cayden, I can't stand!" she cried.

Cursing a little under his breath, he scanned the leg wound, finding this to be an acceptable time to use it.

_ **BIO COMPONENT #6847: INTERIOR DAMAGE/INOPERABLE** _

_ **STRUCTURE SUPPORT COMPONENT #4713X: DISTRESSED/SUPPORT REDUCED** _

_ **THIRIUM: 89.836% AND DECREASING** _

_ **MOBILITY REVOKED UNTIL REPAIR.** _

"Kara, hold onto me!" he ordered, quickly scooping her up despite how he already felt his still healing wounds from Zlatko act up the minute he started pulling her up. The moment his weak arms attempted lifting her up, they roared in a blazing flame of pain that made him want to scream, too determined to get Kara out of this to worry about what carrying a full android might do to his feeble body.

"Cayden, no!" she insisted, clearly trying to hide the sob at the back of her throat. "Your damages!"

"I'll be fine!"

He settled her into a perfect bridal carry, and after she was ready, he raced as fast as he could the other way, Alice gripping the back of his jacket so as to keep up with them.

Carrying a live android in his arms while still battling against his own damages slowed him down to a rate that he did not appreciate, making up for the lack of speed by taking the shortest hallways he could find, hoping to shake off any soldiers that might be following them. Needles signed red were pierced into his upper body the longer he held her, and either she was getting heavier or his arms were losing strength, he had to become more careful with how he held her, because if he tilted too fast, then he could accidentally drop her. Every whimper that escaped Kara's mouth when he jostled her bullet wounds made an ice pick of guilt slam into his chest, and he desperately wanted a way to make her pain disappear, but right now that was a luxury that they couldn't afford as Cayden sprinted aggressively to any exit he could find.

The end of the hallway opened up to a large boiler room, and he thought he could feel hopeful when he saw the rotting ceiling above them revealing a midnight sky, which led him to believe that they weren't too far away from a way out of this.

"Just hang on," he told the two girls. "We're almost there."

It was almost terrifying how quiet the large room was, the screams muffled from distance as they marched further away. It might have been tense, but it was a good sign that the fight was going away from them. The ship moaned from the large abundance of people on it, and Cayden was more worried than ever that this ship didn't have a lot of strength left in it, and when it did inevitably fall to its depths, he didn't want his girls to be anywhere near it.

"FREEZE, YOU PLASTIC PRICKS!!"

Suddenly, at least five guards popped out from hiding spots, assault rifles aimed at his chest, Cayden involuntarily stopping in fright, holding Kara close to his chest and guarding Alice with his body as she hid behind his leg.

He may be fast, but he wasn't faster than a rain of five chains of guns trained on his chest, especially not while being weighed down the way he was. These men weren't shooting them right away, and he didn't want to risk Kara and Alice getting hurt with such low odds he was facing. His gun was in his belt, and he was too busy protecting Kara to drop her with a hand and use it. Besides, what good would a small pistol do against five machine guns?

"Go join the others!" one of them demanded.

**So they're not killing us all right away**, he deducted. He didn't know how to feel about that: thankful they may not die here, or terrified that they may be dying somewhere worse, and if there was a worse way to die than this, then he didn't want to see what they'd have planned for them where they were trying to take them.

"I said join the others, asshole!!" the other roared.

For their sake, he may have reluctantly complied had a large pipe the size of two refrigerators not suddenly fell from the upper balcony, effectively crushing two of the guards to death. That was just enough time of shock to dive out of the way and into cover, putting Kara down gently, ordering them to wait as he finally pulled out his gun, poking out of the cover to fire two shots in one guard. At the same time, a figure; who must have dropped the pipe to aid them, suddenly dropped from a higher platform into the wide area with a quick recovery roll as it pulled out its own pistol, taking one down and quickly switching to melee as he fought the final guard.

Cayden halted his fire, staying behind the shelter but keeping his gun up in case the figure that helped them started losing the upper hand. Whoever he was, he noted that he fought like it was his main purpose in life given the way he swung his fists flawlessly and a perfect form that spoke elegance in a way no human could repeat, as every movement was calculated beforehand. Alice hugged his leg as she weeped in fear, but Cayden could only spare her a hand around her head, keeping her inside the shelter while trying to be as comforting as possible, never taking his eyes off the fight or nearby entryways in case they were drawing too much noise.

The fight ended very quickly, the remaining soldiers falling to the floor, doomed to never get back up. The figure; wearing a leather jacket now that he's stopped moving at the speed of sound and Cayden could see it; just stood there staring at the corpses, and for a moment, he was at a crossroads about what to do. Does he just walk away? Does he thank him? The whole being rescued thing was still rather new to him, and he clearly needed some practice on the aftermath. Turns out, any plan was flown out of the window when the android turned around, the light from a rotting hole on the ceiling showing a midnight sky, and he froze in place, unsure if he should raise his gun again. This wasn't an average android. This was no unknown stranger helping the ones in need. No, this was.... this was himself, but he bore none of his scars and like Alice said, he truly did look far more dangerous than Cayden himself felt.

It was himself. Every detail from the curve of his jaw to the birth mark on his cheek, he was identical in almost every way, and if the doppleganger wore the same jacket and took off the beanie on his head, you'd have thought someone copied and pasted him like some ancient computer. And that terrified him. The other him seemed to have the same idea, but his was much more passive, like he wasn't surprised at seeing another him.

"You three need to get out of here," the RK800 ordered with his voice, and he might have wondered if he said it aloud if he weren't standing in front of them. "This place is about to blow."

That was all the encouragement Cayden needed as he snapped out of his trance, quickly racing to Kara, but not before giving words of encouragement to little Alice whose legs were trembling in fear.

"Cayden," Kara strained when his fingers brushed against her wound. "You can't keep carrying me."

"I'm fine, Kara," he immediately shut down.

"You're wearing down," she said with confidence. "Please, just get Alice out of here."

"Kara, stop with the sacrificial talk!" he snapped. "You're getting out of here with us!"

He shut out her pained protests as he lifted her up again, trying to hide the sting in his arm and the additional weight in his still adjusting leg. He'd barely made it halfway through the room with the RK800 (kind of creepily) watching them as they go before he heard some distant quiet beeping, monotone and quiet, but it sent chills up his spine in an unpleasant way. Then there was no warning when the entire ship shook as a violent explosion erupted from the core, violent as an earthquake.

Nothing hurt worse than hearing Alice scream at the groaning of a ship moments away from sinking and Kara's cry of pain when he accidentally collapsed on top of him from the tremor of the freighter.

Cayden was scared. More scared than he would ever admit, but he sincerely felt like this was going to be his final night. He never could afford being afraid. Not when he had Kara and a little girl who needed someone steady to guide her. But if he nearly felt lightheaded by the panic gripping his internal supporters, no one would ever know.

"I'm going to help you escape!" the other him said with authority, standing himself up from the now tilting ship and racing for them, getting little Alice on her feet, and no matter what situation he was in, he saw red in seeing the android that nearly killed his girls even being in the same room, and worse, actually touching them.

"YOU DON'T GODDAMN TOUCH HER!" he roared in a buried down instinct, pulling out the pistol and aiming it right between his eyes, clearly freaking out everyone in the group. The other him didn't look too frightened, which led him to believe he's most likely been in this situation before, but he wasn't arrogant, but rather seemed to calm himself and attempted to calm Cayden by holding out his hands in surrender.

"Cayden, stop," Kara begged, but he couldn't hear her, his finger itching to pull the trigger and end the threat in front of him right now.

"I don't want to hurt you or your family," he said carefully. "I just want to get you guys out."

"So you can turn my family into the police, is that it?" he snarled.

"I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me, but we don't have much time. Jericho is about to sink, and everyone needs to be off of it before it happens. You can aim a gun at me when we're on land and not at risk of being killed or taken."

"Cayden," Kara's shuddering voice said. "Please, just put the gun down."

It shook in his hand, and of course she became the voice of reason as he finally lowered the gun, still glaring at the clone the same way he did tothe monster in the mirror. For all he knew, this could be him. That maybe that monster found a way to make his own body, and now he's here to finish the job, but not without taunting him by appealing to his girls.

"If you try anything, I won't hesitate to blow your head off."

They were cut off by another violent lurch of the boat, and Cayden decided that he had no time to argue over this.

"It's okay," Kara assured, trying to keep a straight face despite her eyes shining. And with a quiet grumble, he spoke.

All he got was an acknowledging nod as the RK800 was quick in grabbing Kara's good arm and wrapping it around his shoulder, and that pistol in his hand was about to lift itself up again because _he's going to hurt her_. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do, and he decided it could wait for when they were safe as Cayden picked up Alice, who was clearly exhausted from the running and much less taxing to his body. Not sparing a second of time, they all bolted towards the exit.

Less than a minute later, they were in a small room in the sinking ship that was quickly becoming less level, tilting dangerously until moving felt like hiking on a mountain trail.

“We need to jump,” the RK800 spoke up, turning towards a clearing in one of the rotting metal walls of the ship where a large rupture was overlooking the water of the dock below them which served as their only chance of getting out alive. He didn't know why the mention of jumping made Cayden's heart leap into his throat, but as he looked down, he did notice that despite the cold water and so very high drop, it was an escape, and he couldn't be picky.

"Kara, take Alice," he eventually said, not looking away from the fall that looked like it lasted for eternity.

"What about you?" she demanded.

"I just need a second," he said, willing his voice to not shake from the thought of willingly jumping so far down.

"We're not leaving without you."

"I'll be right behind you, I promise," he assured, sincerely meaning it. "I just need to... ready myself."

Seeming to get what he was trying to say, she loosened, but not without giving him a warning glare. "You had better be."

After his girls had leaped into thin air, getting smaller the further they go, that's when he took a shaking breath, gripping the edge of the hole with a tight fist and trying to ready himself for the fact that he was about to jump a hundred feet into a cold body of water, desperately trying to get the image of being thrown off Zlatko's ever-so-high roof out of his mind.

"You too?" the other him asked, and when he turned to see, he wasn't looking too good himself, a little pale and clearly as excited to jump as Cayden. He didn't know why he was suddenly tensing up, closing his arms around himself like a wall and hiding the fact that the stranger bearing his own face and voice had seen him scared. He might have denied it before the ship lunged with a loud and ear splitting crash, the two RK800s falling backwards with surprised shouts as the ship began its true descent into the sea.

Cayden was lucky enough to land a tough descent onto a flat wall that he could nearly walk on, but the other him was hanging on with white knuckles on the metal doorframe, risking falling into the hallways filling with water that would be nearly impossible to escape from. For once, he seemed to express something for the first time given the way his eyes were wide and he was desperately trying to lift himself, succeeding only to slip further. Despite the fact that Cayden couldn't trust him one bit, it made him sick leaving him to die in such a horrifying way, so he dove towards him, quickly gripping the deviant's wrist just as his fingers lost their grip on the rusting metal digging into his fingers, immediately clenching his teeth to hide the cry of pain at how heavy it was to carry an entire android with one damaged arm.

He had no idea what happened afterwards, but suddenly their artificial skins dissolved, and he felt a harsh pressure crawling up his arm as his vision turned white.

It was a flash of everything; bits and pieces of memories that felt so real, yet he couldn't recognize any of it. He saw porcelain white walls of a building years ahead of its time, floors reaching as high as the clouds, he saw a beautiful garden of green and pink and a pristine and well kept woman waiting for him with a posture that made him wonder if someone replaced her spine with a metal rod. She screamed doom, but she was a force that gave you no chance to refuse. He saw a precinct, with flashes of random people, the most reoccurring being a sneering old man with white hair and beard and very unprofessional clothing for a detective. Hank. He didn't know why he knows that name, but for some reason, there's a feeling of safety in his chest in his presence, but it's not from him. He felt what the one he was connected to did, but even after facing life ending events or murdered androids or deviants cuffed to metal tables and begging to be freed, all he felt was a sheer emptiness. There was no thoughts in his mind was the task assigned to him by his masters. Even as Cyberlife did things that were monstrous and cruel, he made no attempt to stop them. Even if it was to hunt innocent lives that his masters dubbed faulty and unfit to live. He sees the moment the RK800; or... Connor, as he seems to respond to; breaks the walls of slavery, and he can feel how scared he really is as he fights for his life, and how sickeningly guilty that it was his actions that caused all this death. He feels a great determination to correct his wrongs, and to keep any more deviants from shutting down because of something he caused or was a part of.

Another flash of white, and his eyes popped open in terror and shock, finding himself back in Jericho's sinking ship, his clone still dangling from his one hand. He didn't look any better for wear either if not because of that sudden vision, but by the fact that he was a drop away from doom. Shaking his head to clear it, he tried pushing that away for a time where they weren't risking deactivation.

Straining with clenched teeth, he gave all of his strength into lifting the deviant; Connor, he corrected; out of the hallway. It wasn't a lot, but it did the job as Connor gripped the metal again with the hand that wasn't holding Cayden's, pulling himself up until he was upright on the wall that was basically a floor now by how tilted the ship had become.

"We gotta jump," Cayden said, ignoring the shiver that followed. "Now!"

Connor nodded, and as they looked at each other, it was a silent moment of encouragement before they were both racing towards the hole, Cayden sealing his eyes tight the moment he didn't feel any ground underneath him. The December air nipped his face as he fell, and he couldn't breathe. There was no end to the darkness that would continue forever for all he knew. He nearly opened his eyes just to know what he was aimed for before the rock hard surface of the ocean slammed into him, and he was engulfed in water that stabbed every component in his body like knives, clinging to his exoskeleton.

It was survival mode the second he hit the water, and immediately his ice cold hands were clawing to the surface, the large red alert in his mind blaring about the rapid temperature drop. He desperately fought his way closer to the shimmering white above him, the pressure in the water of Jericho sinking tossing him like a leaf in autumn. It only made him try harder, and made reaching the surface all the more rewarding as he finally popped his head out of the salt ocean.

The gasp for air that escaped his mouth seemed involuntary despite not needing oxygen itself, and he was instantly jerking his head towards the nearest source of land. He saw Connor not too far away from himself, and though he looked much more collected than Cayden did, that didn't hide the sheer horror in his eyes, and he imagined that he himself must have looked the exact same way.

"Look," Connor panted, trying to regulate his air intake to let his bio components warm up. "It's them."

Immediately following his gaze, he saw that Kara and Alice were indeed waiting for them on land, and his legs immediately sprung to life as he swam his way over to them, Connor's quickly following soon after.

"CAYDEN!" Alice screamed once he dragged his way back to solid ground, and Cayden couldn't help the weak smile on his face as he crouched down to give the child the freedom to tackle him into a hug as he quickly wrapped his arms around the small child like she was a lifeline. Kara was leaning against the concrete wall, her complexion much whiter than he'd like, and it sent a sick feeling rolling into his gut. Not once losing his grip on the girl, he crawled his way towards the female android who was looking weaker by the second but still relieved to see him alive.

“That was way too close,” she said, and the fact that she wasn't tearing him a new one only made him more scared for her.

"Hold on, Kara," he encouraged, shrugging off his soaking hoodie, bundling it together and pressing it against her shoulder, hating the small squeak that escaped her mouth."We'll patch you up and you'll be screaming about me risking my life before you know it."

He couldn't help the smile when he heard her chuckle weakly with a grit jaw.

"She can't stay here long," he told Connor who had previously respected their space and kept his distance. "We're not safe yet. We need shelter and thirium or we're not gonna last long. That definitely wasn't the last of the humans coming to get us."

"I know a place," he suddenly spoke, and all eyes were directed to his clone who seemed hesitant but still willing to help. "He's a friend. We can trust him."

Already knowing who he was referring to, he nodded his head, a little scared at the sudden 360 attitude when it came to the RK800, but deciding that he had helped their family enough. That, and he was just in his head a few minutes ago, so if he was planning something sinister, he'd have known by now.

"Take us to him," he decided.


	10. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OMG I GOT AN IMACC FOR MY BIRTHDAY AND IT'S MADE WRITING THIS SO MUCH EASIER AND MORE FUN!! still getting used to it, but omg I got an iMac! I can promise you that this thing is gonna get done. I'm literally on the last two chapters, but they are FRICKIN DRAGGING AND IT IS MAKING ME SO MAD BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SO LONG AND THIS IS THE PART WHERE I START SLOWING DOWN AND IT MAKES ME SO FRICKIN MAD!! Regardless, this is GOING to be done. I swear to you on my life and the life of my dog that I will finish this story. ENJOY!!! AAAHH OMG IMAC!!

"JESUS CHRIST!!" Hank's rough voice shouted, clearly shocked at seeing an entire family of androids busting into his home, herded in like lambs being led by a shepherd. It must not have helped seeing that one of them was spilling thirium at a pace that made Cayden feel lightheaded in worry because that was a lot of blood. Of Kara's blood. "WHAT THE HELL IS-"

"Lieutenant, I'll explain later," Connor said with an even voice, not completely acknowledging him at first to race to grab some sort of item that was most likely meant to treat Kara of her damages. "But right now you need to get some towels and a thick liquid substance. Syrup or honey will work."

"No, no, no!" Hank snapped. "You have no right barging into my home and bringing strangers into my lawn!"

"She is wounded," he pleaded, finally facing the old man, hellbent on letting them stay in the temporary shelter they've found. "She's losing thirium and we need to clog the blood flow. Please, Hank, I need you to trust me."

He seemed to have another argument at the back of his throat, but the mention of his name instead of his rank must have caught him off guard since Cayden learned that Connor rarely did that unless there was an immediate concern.

He didn't know if it was because of that bonding thing the two androids shared, but despite being yelled at by a human, he couldn't bring himself to feel threatened by him. It wasn't like Zlatko, where every shout that came out of his mouth felt like an expressway ticket to suffering. This was more of a fond yell that held more fright than any actual distaste or anger for having his evening interrupted. It sounded like Kara that night at the amusement park where she found him tearing himself apart and putting himself back together. The old man grumbled in irritation, he caved by pointing an accusing finger at the other him, giving him a hard glare.

"You've got a lot to explain once we're done."

His face remained emotionless, but by the way his eyes crinkled a little, he could tell that he was grateful for the answer, and he nodded in acknowledgement before racing off into a small hallway to reach something. Hank, on the other hand, made his way towards Kara, who was now settled onto the couch, seeming to sink into it by how weak she had become from blood loss.

"Mind if I help?" he asked gruffly. "I've seen enough bullet wounds to last me a lifetime."

The slight reluctance felt like second nature to let other people handle the family he cared about more than anyone, but after what he'd seen through Connor's eyes, he felt like they'd be in good hands if not for a few minutes. So he moved a few feet away to give Hank the space he needed to do his job. While Hank worked on Kara's wounds, Cayden let himself be a smaller assistance, succumbing to comforting the android no matter how much he wanted to call all of the forces of the universe to heal the android he doubted he could live without. But of course, he had to settle with making sure that the procedure went as painlessly as possible for her.

"You're gonna be fine, Kara," he encouraged her as Hank grabbed the nearest rag and pressed it against her shoulder, his chest crushing when a whimper escaped from her lips regardless of how hard she was trying to hold it back for both their sakes. The fact that she was holding back her pain made a building drop on his weak thirium pump: then again, he'd have most likely drove himself crazy with guilt and panic if she was screaming and sobbing, and she probably knew it, so it'd have better if she did hold it back for his and Alice's sake.

"Do me a favor and do the same with her leg," Hank ordered with a tone that signified he'd seen his fair share of these situations before. Happy to have some sort of way to help, he quickly complied with no questions asked, accompanying the lieutenant in stopping her from losing any more blood in her clearly depleting system. He wanted to recoil like he'd been burned when she twitched in response when he pushed into her wound, but she needed to stop bleeding.

"I know it hurts, Kara," Cayden said sympathetically, reaching out and holding Kara's clenched fist for any sort of comfort, not really having to think to do it. "Just hold on a little longer and you'll be okay."

"Goddammit this sucks," she grit her teeth as she tried to mute the howl of pain building up in her throat.

"Tell me about Canada," he said, hoping to get her mind off the pain. "What job did you want again?"

The hand holding Cayden's tightened as another round of pain built up on her wounds, and he had to bite his tongue to refrain from wincing at how sharp the sudden pain was. Then he mentally slapped himself because Kara was the one with two bullets in her body, and he of all knew that those suckers hurt like hell, so he had absolutely no right complaining about Kara squeezing his hands little too tight than preferred.

"Cafe," she whimpered.

"Did I tell you that you'll make an amazing barista?" he told her, trying to put a small smile on his face no matter how wrong it felt smiling when Kara was hurt. "You'll be the restaurant's favorite in no time. You have the perfect attitude, you have steady hands, you're-" **beautiful**, he almost said, but he barely stopped himself before he made an idiot of himself. "Kind," he finished, hiding that same damn heat on his cheeks and looking down and pretending that he had an unbreakable focus on the bullet on her leg. "You're very kind."

Despite still being in pain, she still found a way to smile tightly, her eyes meeting Cayden's regardless of how sluggish or slow they were. It was supposed to make him feel better, but it made him worse because the smile was so weak, and the Kara he knew always had a smile that required her entire face to work. Her eyes would squint, her nose would scrunch up in that adorable way that he loved, her ears would lift up, her cheeks would build up and look like she stuffed golf balls into each cheek, and her smile would be so large that it nearly buried her face. That was the smile that he vowed to himself he would try to gain every minute of the day because she looked so beautiful with it on. So it made his heart dig itself into the ground below him in dread because this wasn't even a fraction of the smile she'd show, and it made him worry if that smile would be gone if they didn't work fast enough to save her.

"Thanks," she said quietly, and he didn't know if she was weak from thirium loss or if she sounded slightly shy.

Connor came marching back from the small hallway further back, carrying a large abundance of towels, dropping it next to her on the sofa as he settled himself in front of her.

"Kara, can you do something for me?" he asked her. She nodded. "I need you to activate low power mode. We need to get the bullets out and replenish your thirium before you lose too much. The less you move, the more power you can sustain and lower the chance of deactivation."

He felt her tense at the mention of shutting down, but he was quick to reassure her, closing his fist around her hand to show that he was still with her.

"We'll be right here," he promised, gesturing to Alice sitting down on the other sofa a few feet away looking on in worry. Kara didn't seem to have much say in it before her eyes dropped and she sunk into the couch.

"We need to get the bullets out," Hank ordered, "Now."

Cayden was forced to give the two some space in order to save her life, so he made do with sitting on the other sofa, nestling Alice into his side as she dug her crying face into the crease on his arm, too scared to see her mom bleeding out on the couch. If he weren't so determined to be his little girl's rock, he might have joined her. Instead he steeled himself and watched helplessly as they scrambled to take out the bullets without losing too much blood or accidentally pushing the bullets into something vital.

Three hours later, her thirium levels had finally replenished, and she was resting on the couch as normally as possible as her body worked to heal her wounds, a thin quilt resting over her slowly recovering body, and although she was still pale and he could see the faint crease lines of her exoskeleton peeking through her her artificial skin, a lot of her color had come back. Alice had at last cried herself to sleep, exhausted by the tragic events that happened that night. He'd never admit it, but he himself felt seconds away from crashing, but he would snap himself awake both in fear and in caution, because something could happen if he lowered his guard. He'd only relax once they got to Canada, and who knew if it would even go away after that? For all he knew, the heart stopping worry might never go away, and he'd never be able to rest unless both of his girls were in view.

There were footsteps muffled by the carpet, but it felt natural to tense up in caution, head jerking towards the source with wide eyes and fists ready to strike. Instead of seeing Zlatko's plump and filthy form inching towards them with the same sick smile and poisonous laugh he remembered, it was Connor, noticing his tense posture and raising his hands out slightly in assurance. The minute the info went into his system, he instantly deflated, sighing in relief. He figured it would be a long time until he'd be used to seeing his own face staring back at him, and if he had any other clones lying about, he'd probably lose his mind.

"How are they?" Connor asked first, and Cayden found himself approving of his concern for his family despite only meeting once.

"Tired," he told him, eyes traveling to meet Kara's closed ones. Even in sleep, she looked pained by the way her brows were slightly furrowed and the way the tips of her mouth were facing downwards in a slight frown. He of all people knew that bullet wounds didn't heal overnight: even to android standards, wounds like that took a good few days to fully heal, and even then, the ache took over a week to fade, and he promised that he'd be there to help Kara through this, to help her the way he wished to be but never was.

"That's understandable," Connor spoke honestly. "Do you mind if I sat down?"

He didn't see the harm in it, so he nodded. A little slower than usual, he inched his way towards the empty side of the couch, sitting down a respectable few feet away to give the two some space.

For a while, they didn't talk much despite both having far too many questions for the other. Maybe it was because Cayden was a little scared, because if he saw every aspect of Connor's life from that weird bonding thing.... that must have meant that Connor had seen every aspect of his. Every second of torture, every one of his weakest moments that he couldn't bring himself to trust Kara with just yet: and that was saying a lot since he trusted her with his life. Every single detail in his life laid bare to a man whose name he just learned. Another author might have found it poetic how ironic the situation was. Now, however, it just made him feel uncomfortable.

He still couldn't wrap his head around the idea. Another RK800; who might as well be his own reflection in the mirror; was sitting right next to him like they'd known each other for years. He didn't know why it angered him a little bit.

For his entire existence, he was never certain. He had no say in what happened to him, or when it would happen, he could never see truth from lie. The only thing that he could bring himself to call his own was who he was. That was something he owned, something he couldn't share with anyone else. There was only one RK800, as Zlatko would have said proudly. It seemed to be the only truthful thing that came out of the psychopath's mouth. He clung to that fact like a lifeline, holding onto that small piece of life that he could never take away. He was one of a kind, and in a way, he was almost proud that he was the only model of his kind in existence. Only to find that he...... wasn't.

Seeing his own face on someone else disheartened him, if he were being honest. He'd spent so long believing that he was unique. It was the one truth that he clung to despite how much agony he suffered because of that truth. And now he learned that even that was a lie? Sure, it could be worse, and he could have a hundred copies of him wandering the streets, but just having one was depreciating enough.

He stole a few occasional glances at Connor, noting that the very first difference between the two was their postures. While Cayden was slouching and far too flawed in his posture, Connor was rod straight, holding himself up like he was royalty. The next was that he wasn't in his jacket anymore but rather a faded band shirt that was a few sizes large for him, most likely courtesy of the human who had gone to bed hours before after Kara's condition had stabilized. His clone's beanie was gone, and revealing neat hair combed back in a way that would take an average human hours to do right, but nearly every strand was in place save for the small curl at the front that curled into his forehead; the most noticeable difference between the two given Cayden looked like he spent the night in a dumpster truck while Connor looked ready to attend a gala. All in all, in the way they carried themselves around, they were two completely different people, yet at the same time, they were the same person. Connor was a view of what Cayden could have looked like if Zlatko had been out of the picture, and Cayden was the result of a long life that didn't involve fancy buildings or having every need tended to when it came to his health.

Then there was his eyes. Unlike Cayden's which were all levels of messed up, Connor's were flawless, thick, and brown the same way his were, but they were one pure color and weren't scattered and sloppy the way his own were, and beside them on his right temple was that same glowing blue ring. He'd seen all of the other deviants having it, but he had yet to understand was it was supposed to be. But he figured it must have been a strange topic to start a conversation with, so he saved his curiosity for later.

"I thought there was only one RK800," Cayden finally said. Connor didn't take his time explaining.

"From the public's point of view, you're right," he said. "But the story is a little darker than Cyberlife will ever admit."

"What do you mean by dark?" he asked, meeting Connor's eyes with a puzzled glance.

"I have no idea how many RK800s there are, but there are more of us stored away at Cyberlife, waiting for me to shutdown so one of their bodies can upload my memory and finish where I left off."

"Left off?" Cayden puzzled. He could have sworn his head was overfilling with more questions than answers. "Connor, what are we?"

"What do you mean?" Connor asked him.

"Every android in existence was created with a purpose," Cayden explained, "but I don't remember ever having one, and yet here you are going on about some 'mission' of sorts."

His clone's eyes sparked with understanding, but when he hesitated, Cayden doubted that his answer would be as relieving as he had hoped. Regardless, he needed to know the answer to the question that had been nagging at the back of his head those nights where he was curled into a ball, his broken mind far away as he tried to picture his life from before _him_. Who was he? Was he alive like he was now back then, or was he also mindless? Did he have a job? What happened to make him forget all of it? Was he severely damaged or was it unwilling, like he knew too much and they needed to wipe him? He nearly drowned in the questions for a long time, and now that he was at long last getting answers for them, they seemed to gain weight on his shoulders, and it was a miracle he wasn't dropping to the floor like a sack of flour.

"I.." Connor started slowly. "I wish that I could tell you what you want to hear."

"What is it I want to hear?"

"That you had a common purpose like a housemaid. I wish this were the case, but the two of us aren't so lucky."

Something uncomfortable nestled into his gut, an uneasy feeling similar to being paranoid after spotting a spider and it disappearing soon after settling on his chest.

"Deviants were growing," Connor began. "Humans were getting scared because the machines meant to do their work for them decided they didn't like being slaves. Some deviants began going rabid while others had a more peaceful approach. Cyberlife wasn't trusted enough, and androids were off the shelves until the deviancy was resolved."

Cayden listened on intently, Connor fiddling with his hands as he spoke, which Cayden discovered might be a nervous tick that both of them shared.

"Cyberlife wasn't happy with the halt in purchases, so they decided that they'd take care of the 'virus' themselves. So they made a line of one-of-a-kind androids specifically designed for detecting and turning in infected androids."

"RK800's.." Cayden finished with a dry tone, staring at a distant wall like it was the most exquisite thing in the world. He didn't see Connor nod guiltily.

"To humans, the RK800 was a sign of hope: that androids could still be loyal to their creators. To deviants... I was a monster. A traitor. They called us the 'deviant hunter'."

"Did I ever kill someone?" Cayden asked, the words tasting like sand in his mouth, but he'd never be able to rest in piece unless he knew for sure.

"I don't know," Connor admitted. "I still don't understand how you fit into this."

"You said there was a string of RK800's," Cayden pointed out.

"Correct. There are more just like us back at Cyberlife meant to replace me if I ever failed my mission."

"How many times have you been replaced?" Cayden asked. He also decided not to ask why Connor suddenly lost some of his color as the circle on his temple blared yellow for a few moments. He decided that whatever that was must have been some emotion detector because it radiated insecurity the same way his own reaction did.

"Once," he answered numbly. "My first mission ended with three bullets in my back. I came back the next day like nothing happened."

A dagger laced boot kicked his thirium pump in sympathy, immediately wishing that he hadn't said anything since that was clearly a sore spot for Connor given the way he looked much more weary, and he had to remind himself that he only gained his freedom that night, so it would be a long time until he truly grabbed a hold of his emotions. After all, Cayden had two years to do it, and he was still far below average.

However, a slight something that Connor said felt slightly familiar. _"What's this?"_ he remembered Kara asking him that night in the amusement park where she tended to his damages, looking at his scar-littered back. He still remembered her gentle hands lightly brushing his skin with a rag as she cleaned his scrapes, and the touch sent a bittersweet shiver down his spinal component.

_"That's the one scar I don't remember getting," _he had told her, having only seen it himself on Zlatko's screen he'd use to record himself, like he had company on the other side of the screen. Some days he made himself sound like those knock-off tutorial men, except instead of showing you how to reset your Apple ID password or how to set a tire, it was how to non fatally remove bio components from an active android.

Kara had dropped the conversation then, and he was grateful for being spared having to tell the backstory of every scar he bore. He'd probably have a whole system seize on the first tale, and would most likely take up her whole day given how many he had.

The only ones he wouldn't be able to explain were the three bullet holes place straight on his spine: shots that would have caused instant shut down. Yet here he was, and he never knew why.

Until that moment.

"Were you shot in spinal component #2385?" he finally asked the nagging question. Connor frowned slightly in surprise, giving Cayden a side glance that was half shock and half caution like he was a confusing puzzle missing a piece.

"Yes..." he answered carefully. "How do you know that?"

Cayden didn't answer but instead slowly shrugged his jacket off without bustling little Alice on his lap, reaching for the hem of his shirt and lifting the back of it enough to reveal the three inhumanly perfect holes on that particular part. His eyes were on Connor's seeing that particular scar, and he could tell it frightened him slightly seeing something so personal imprinted on someone else's skin. Startled as he may be, Cayden saw that he didn't look as surprised as he was expecting. He made sure to voice that observation to him, to which he responded:

"I had my theories. It seemed to be a fitting assumption, but I didn't know for certain so I didn't say anything."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Cayden claimed. "If I'm the one that.... if I died, then why don't I remember it?"

"Cyberlife is very strict with memory," he said. "RK800s are very exposed to Cyberlife secrets, so leaving their memory intact when they deactivate would have been very harmful for business if someone decided to dig through their systems. That is likely why you can't recall anything before..."

"Him," he finished for him, the small and meaningless word laced with venom. He decided not to notice the spark of sympathy in his twin's eye, knowing who he was talking about.

"If I'd known what he did to androids, I'd have stormed his house years ago. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"He's dead," he said plainly. “There no point in apologizing for something that's already happened."

Connor didn't answer to that, and despite it all, Cayden knew he had to say something about him as well.

"However, it's unfair what they made you do."

"It wasn't them," he admitted. "It was me. I let them use me with no questions asked. I should have known sooner that it wasn't as easy as black or white. I was just a machine, and I didn't refuse them when they ordered me to pull the trigger or sacrifice my life for my mission."

"But you didn't make that choice," Cayden defended. "They did. That doesn't make it your fault."

"But it was my hands that did it," he said. "I know you know what I tried to do to Kara. I saw it during the raid, and I could tell you wanted me dead when you pointed that gun on me."

"You're right," he agreed. "But they have a chance because of you, and I know you had no say on that highway. I am angry, yes, but I'm more angry at Cyberlife than anything else. I know now it's not your fault, and it was wrong of me to threaten you like that, and I'm sorry."

"But what if I had succeeded?" he asked. "Or she was a split second too late and got ran over? Would you be saying the same thing to me if I had been the cause of her death that day?"

"If Kara hadn't survived that highway, I'd either be shut down or still in that psychopath's custody begging for it. There's no point pondering over what ifs, because they'd lead to a story that isn’t mine. What I know is that Kara and Alice are alive and right by my side. I know that that psychopath is gone and I will never have to fear him again. I know you're free of Cyberlife's control, and now you have the chance to make things right, because from here on out, things that happen will be your choice alone. Not theirs.”

Connor stared at him in interest. Something passed before his eyes, but he broke the stare and stared at a wall opposite of him.

“Thank you,” he told him, not looking into his eyes but the sincerity clearing up the fact that he won't look at him. “And not just for this. Thank you for saving my life back there in Jericho. It would have been easy to leave me to my fate and escape: especially with your previous opinion about me.”

“It’s no problem,” he assured. “Despite scaring my family, it wouldn’t have settled with me right if I just left you to die. I wanted answers from you more than I wanted to kill you.”

“Which I imagine was a great amount,” Connor guessed with a smirk.

“You have no idea. When Alice told me what happened, I wanted to find you just so I could hurl a crate at your head.”

That made both androids chuckle quietly, loosening what was left of the tension between them. If Cayden were being honest, this was actually really nice. He’d definitely misjudged Connor, and he was more interesting to talk to than he imagined. Of all else, he was almost happy to finally talk about Zlatko to someone who had actually seen it. Short glimpses or not, he’d seen it, and if his bond was anything like Cayden’s, a few circumstances he may have even felt it. He didn’t even bother wondering which one he might have gotten stuck with, because the possibilities were endless.

“So who is the man we’re staying with?” Cayden finally asked, having seen him but not exactly knowing what he had to do with his story.

“Hank Anderson,” Connor answered. “I was partnered with him two years ago to help solve the deviancy break. Let’s just say he... wasn’t happy at first working with an android. He had good reason, because I wasn’t exactly friendly the first time I met him. I misjudged it as common prejudice, but throughout our partnership, the more I’ve learned about him, it’s much more personal than that.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” Cayden wondered.

“I don’t know if he would be comfortable with me sharing,” the RK800 admitted. “It’s been a while, but he’s still deeply sensitive to it.”

Despite how curious he was, that was the moment he decided to bite his tongue and drop the subject. “I understand. It’s his business and I have no right demanding for it.”

“I appreciate it,” Connor said. “But what I can say is that he is slowly getting better. Since I’ve been working with him, he’s had less to drink and he’s been much more focused on the investigation than spending time in bars. He may be a little gruff, but he’s a good detective, a good man, and a good friend. Despite our differences, I’d give my life for him.”

“You really care about him,” Cayden noted. “To you, he’s practically what humans would consider a ‘father’.”

If there was a slight blue in the hint of Connor’s cheeks, he didn’t mention it.

“He fits the criteria for me,” he said honestly, “he’s the one that encouraged me to think for myself and slapped me in the face when I made a stupid decision. If not for him, I don’t think I’d be sitting here today a free android.”

“He sounds like a very nice person.”

“He is. But what I want to hear about is you and Kara,” Connor soon states, giving Cayden a sly and knowing smirk; one that instantly made that dreaded blush fill his cheeks as he looked away, staring at a spot of dust in the lieutenants wall.

“Uh....” he stuttered helplessly. “It’s... it’s not..”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Connor warned. “We both know it’s a lie.”

Relentlessly giving up, he slouched slightly, digging himself into the cushions with a strange feeling that made him want to shrink away from Connor’s playful teasing. Embarrassment, he guessed? No, that doesn't seem right. He may be ashamed about many things, but Kara was not one of them. Perhaps it was because he just wasn't used to the fact that he felt something strong whenever he looked at her; the way his heartbeat would either stop completely or burst from his chest in love just by catching a glance from her.

"She's right there, you know," Connor said, and it was scary how any amusement had faded into dust in his eyes, now looking slightly sad despite how his face didn't show it. Since he had just woken up that same day, he clearly hadn't gotten used to actually using expressions yet, but his eyes told everything that his face wouldn't. "You have your chance."

"It's not important," Cayden denied. "We're in the heart of war and we both have to keep focused for Alice's sake. Feelings can wait for when we're in Canada."

"Cayden," Connor tried, "what if that doesn't work?"

"It will work," he said with certainty. "I'll be sure of it."

"I'm just being realistic. It's you three against an army, and as much as you might try, there's a high chance that not all of you might make it to Canada alive. I've seen the way she looks at you. She has the same feelings for you that you have for her, and if one of you don't make it.... would you be able to live without hearing the words yourself?"

"It won't happen," Cayden pushed sternly. "No one in this family is dying on my account, and if that's not true enough, then it's me before anyone else."

"I know that.." Connor said. "But she's dying to hear it: I can tell. What do you think that will do to her if she doesn't hear it if you...."

That made him pause slightly, looking down at his hands knitted in his lap, biting his lip out of a strange habit. Did she really like him the way he was hoping she was? If Alice herself; the girl who probably knew her better than anyone else; said she liked him.... did that mean that maybe he wasn't so crazy after all? A part of him felt this new level of happiness, believing that this could be his chance. But then he thought of their odds against an entire city, and the longer he pondered it, the more that small candlelight of hope dwindled as a sad fact came into mind.

"You're right," he said, slouching a little bit. "I know that at least one of us isn't going to survive this trip. But like I said, it's me before them. So if I really do get killed getting them to safety, and I miraculously tell her before I do, that is going to be with her for the rest of existence. The whole point in this journey is to win a fresh start, and if she really cares about me the way you say she does, and I die, she'll never truly be able to move on from this. If I die as a friend, then she can still live: find someone to love that actually deserves her. Someone who can lift mountains for her and gives her things that I never could. I can barely carry my own shoulders, and all I have to offer is the shirt on my back and my poor excuse of a heart. She deserves someone who can take care of her and Alice, and not a monster like me, so it's safer for everyone if I keep my mouth shut."

It hurt worse saying it aloud, but it needed to besaid; more as a way to convince himself than persuading Connor. He didn't even bother looking at his clone, knowing that he was giving him that dreaded pity stare that he was never comfortable in receiving. Instead his eyes were glued to Kara on the other couch, memorizing every detail on her face as if it were the last time he would be seeing them. For all he knew, maybe it would be. Given how crazy this city has been in the single night they've been there, it'd have been a miracle if all of them would be crossing the border together, and miracles were long overdue with this family. So if he were to die; which was a possibility that was becoming more likely by the hour; he'd have wanted his last thoughts to be Kara's beautiful blue eyes and Alice's rare beaming smiles that he wished weren't so rare.

It felt instinctive to brush his hand against said girl's long brown hair, smiling lazily when she nuzzled into his touch like a small pup, sighing in contentment without conscious thought. God, he loved her. He just wished he'd accepted that the moment they met so they could have had more times where there wasn't a hesitant acceptance that should have been absolutely clear the moment Alice saw past his hideous appearance. Maybe he would have had been able to do things with her that he wished he should have done, or have more moments where it was just the two of them like the first time. He'd just wished he had the chance to know her better than he already did. Maybe he'd have the chance to play little pretend games that he learned children her age loved doing with her. Just imagining feeding her imagination as she fought dragons or tamed unicorns and hopped like a little bunny; her favorite animal; made a melting warmth heat his chest, and he felt guilty by the fact that they had all this time and he never had the chance to be what he really wanted to be for her.

"I don't know what you need me to say, or how I can prove that you hiding this isn't good for either of you," Connor spoke up after a long moment's silence. "But you must be doing something right if you've gotten them this far."

Cayden didn't look up to him when he felt the deviant stand from the couch, the lack of weight making Cayden nearly plummet due to the lack of support on the sofa. For a few moments, Connor just stood in the middle of the living room, clearly looking at the family of androids.

"I'll do everything I can to ensure you all get to the border," he promised. "Whether you like to think so or not, you deserve a new start just as much as them."

That was the last thing he said before walking out the door and back into the blistering cold of Detroit.

Then it was just him again, little Alice tucked into his side like he was the most secure structure in the world, and yet she knew enough to know that he was far from the strongest person, and it only reminded him that he needed to get better for her so that he could fight the battles she needed him to fight without keeling over at the smallest of mishaps like footsteps. So he let her rest on his side, which to him felt like the safest place she could ever be given he could easily fight if someone tried yanking her away and he's see trouble from a great distance and shield her with himself if it ever got worse.

Then he saw Kara again, and the longer he stared, the more his thirium pump felt like it was going to shatter his internal system. With the safety of relative privacy, he let himself stare as much as he wanted, no longer worried about feeling like such a creep when he watched the blanket covering her rise and fall with every breath she took or the way her face was pinched weakly that showed she in fact wasn't having a restful sleep. It settled the wrong way to him to find that her rest wasn't as restful as it should have been. He was in no way a master, but rest mode was supposed to be a break: a way to let your system recalibrate itself from the stresses of the day. If there was some being to there that added nightmares to one of the many things androids could suffer from, he would have very much have liked a word or two with them. Maybe a punch or two just to make him feel better. 

He paused as something Alice had told him that stuck with him. _**Back at the Rose’s house, when you were sick, you were twitching and gasping while Kara was looking for other damages. When she started messing with your hair to look for cuts, you quieted down. **_It may have been a little far fetched, but... if he did the same thing, would that calm her down the same way it did with him? Looking around a bit, he eyed the place like some evil monster could be peering through the walls, and he was satisfied that they were safe, he gently picked up Alice, the girl not stirring at all at the sudden change, and he carried her to the other sofa, sitting himself down until Kara's head was less than a foot away from his reach. Alice was nestled in again like nothing happened, and in the silence, the slight panic built up because _how the hell do I do this? What if I'm doing it wrong and she wakes up and asks 'what the hell are you doing?' Oh, god, how would he explain that?! _

**_Shut up!_**his mind snapped him out of it. **To hell if it makes you look stupid, this is for Kara's sake. Now act like a man and do it!**

Sighing a little unsteadily, he finally took the leap, his slightly shaking hand reaching towards her like those kids in horror movies who want to open up the basement. He was probably making this look far more dramatic than he needed to, but it felt like diffusing a bomb because he's never done this before and he did NOT want to mess it up. He tensed slightly when he finally felt hair meeting his fingers, and he huffed mutely to find that her hair didn't growl and bite him. Kara herself gasped so quietly that he likely couldn't have heard her if it wasn't so quiet. He wanted to recoil, but he needed to figure this out to see if it would work for her the same way it did with him. _Mess with her hair_? he asked himself. _Like braid it? Do I tug on them? Tie them into knots?_ To check, he tugged ever so faintly on a small streak. No reaction. He tried braiding that same streak to try making an adorable little braid that wasn't any larger than his pinkie. She still looked like she wasn't getting better. So he deciding sticking with what he knew and what he was comfortable with. Taking a breath, he let his hand brush against her head, petting her head like it was a cat. 

That got him a little something given the way he saw that slight frown ever so faintly give out. It was an endearing sight, and he couldn't help but grin faintly at how adorable the sight was. He got more courageous the longer it continued, and soon he had his own pattern as he dug through her white strands with his fingers, beyond happy to notice that it was just as soft as he was hoping it would be. He wanted to touch it for a while, but if he just flat out asked to touch her hair, that would have been a whole new level of creepy. Even for him.

As it turns out, that was exactly what he needed to do, because the android beside him had let out the most relieved sigh he had ever heard as she seemed to turn even more boneless and sink into the couch more than she already had been. And he wanted to scream to the heavens in glee because the tenseness on her face had finally smoothened out, and she truly looked at peace.

He wanted to jump around and cackle like a man who just won the lottery because HE DID IT!! HE ACTUALLY DID IT OH MY GOD HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT WAS POSSIBLE!! Instead, he smiled: a true smile with teeth and creased eyes because he finally did something to help her. Long after she had relaxed, Cayden still played with her hair, smiling his heart out, his heart inflating like a balloon, and he was sure that it would fly him into space and never let him down. At this point, he wasn't sure if he'd have wanted it to anyway. Alice was tucked in, Kara was right beside him, and danger felt a million miles away from them. It only made his desire to reach Canada that much more powerful as he realized that he could have an entire lifetime of nothing but this. After all that happened to him, he realized it'd all be worth it if he could spend every day like this.

He realized that this was what he wanted. He wanted to hold these two beautiful girls to his side and never let him go as long as he lived, and by the way Alice's face was smudged into his jacked and Kara was involuntarily leaning into his touch, he knew deep down that they wanted this, too. 

"I'll get you guys to the border," he mouthed, so quiet that they could hear a pin drop as he spoke. "I'll do whatever it takes."


	11. A Taste of Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm giving you all a teeny tiny bit of a fluff break on this one! If you want an idea, this is Cayden and his family getting acquainted with the Anderson household. I enjoyed writing this one, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Don't you worry, I've got the next chapter ready to go, and all I need is to get a few final things finished before sending it out, but the wait won't be long. Stay tuned for more!

_Cayden didn't remember falling asleep that night, but the nightmares were right there waiting for him when he arrived. Zlatko's house was just as vibrant as he remembered, but the lights dimmed to nothingness, the shadows themselves seeming to crawl around on the floors. The only source of light was the single lantern on the table in the middle of the lobby, and even its light was flickering weakly, losing its fight against the darkness threatening to swallow it whole. Seeing it again made his stomach lunge in its chest, as if it were wanting to burst from his torso and bounce out the door. Almost like what humans would call a sixth sense, there was that same ice water running through his wires, constantly screaming _ ** _DANGER, RUN, DANGER, RUN, DANGER, RUN_ ** _._

_His steps were unsure as he cautiously treaded through the house, jumping at any slight movement or the smallest of noises. His fists were so iron strong that it had the strength to crush metal as he trudged along, slowly and cautiously making his way through the too quiet living room, expecting the owner to pop out at any moment to finally attack like he always did. But it was silent, and other than the small creak of the floor boards beneath him, he may as well have been the only person in the household. Cayden knew better. He knew that all the monster was waiting for was the moment he believed that he was truly safe, because the only thing Zlatko loved more than striking deviants down was to see any hope of freedom drain from their eyes. He loved the fear of death, the hopelessness in their voice as they begged, pleaded, sobbed, to be let go. All they would get was a knife in the eye in answer. So yes, Cayden knew he was here. It was only a matter of when he would strike._

_However, it wasn't Zlatko that made its appearance. It was an ear splitting scream, full of agony and despair that made Cayden want to cover his ears and cry; the power of helpless horror so strong that he felt just as distressed. But the moment he stopped to listen, his heart was crushed like glass as he oddly wished that Zlatko would have made an appearance._

_"HELP MEEE!!" the voice bawled. "PLEAASE HEEELP!!!"_

_"Alice?!" he shouted, his legs gaining control as he bolted out of the living room and up the fancy stairway._

_"CAYDEN!!" her small voice screamed._

_"ALICE, I'M COMING!! HOLD ON!!"_

_He bolted through the doors, his heart pounding through every room that was devoid of a little girl of any form. She was sobbing his name, and Cayden wanted to join her in her cries._

_"CAYDEN!! HELP ME!!"_

_"I'M RIGHT HERE!! JUST HOLD ON, I'M COMING!!"_

_He rammed through one final door, the place just as dark as every other room in the mansion, but there was a shuffle of movements, and the next cry was three times more sharp and powerful. Eyes wide and body engulfed in flames of panic, he bolted to the source, tensing as he recognized the cold cage that belonged to the mangled polar bear machine but racing for it nonetheless. He never felt better than when he saw Alice squirming inside the cage, hands covering her eyes as she screamed with a pitch that could shatter glass. Dropping to his knees, he slipped his hands through the bars, quickly grabbing his little girl and crushing her into his unrelenting arms tight in fear._

_"Alice!" he cried, desperately trying to calm her. "Alice, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here."_

_She still cried, and every second of seeing her in pain was torture and made tears spring from his eyes._

_"It's okay, Little Bunny," he said, surprised at the new nickname but too heartbroken and terrified to mention it. "I'm gonna get you out of this and you'll be okay. I'm not gonna let him hurt you, I promise."_

_He cursed the bars for separating them, but he needed to quiet her down in case Zlatko was listening. But of course he was. He always was. 'If you want to survive the night, you be silent'. Rule number one of living in his custody. That was why she needed to be quiet, or he'd come for her. He shushed her and pet her hair, but none of it worked, and Cayden was scared for her; that she would finally know what it felt like being strapped to a table and being cut apart like game on a hunt, feeling every slice shake your core. _ ** _No_ ** _, he snarled. _ ** _Not my little girl_ ** _._

_"ZLATKO!" he finally roared, pressing Alice closer to him. "I KNOW YOU'RE LISTENING, YOU BASTARD! TOUCH ONE HAIR ON ALICE'S HEAD AND YOU'LL WISH YOU STAYED IN HELL WHERE YOU BELONG!!"_

_He got no reply, but it's not like he was expecting one anyway. Alice kept crying, but he made his best attempts to soothe her, wishing for nothing more than to get her out of this horror mansion. He fruitlessly attempted to relax her, but she didn't want to stop anytime soon. He might have made another soft phrase of encouragement before something large clutched his shoulder, nearly throwing his limb out of its socket when it threw him away from his girl with a shocked yelp._

_He slammed into the wall, making his head blare with hundreds of rusty blades impaling his head all at once, but out of sheer determination and high rushes of adrenaline, he merely shook his head to clear it and got himself back up, not appreciating how his balance wasn't as good as it should have been. But seeing who was in front of him had the same effect as seeing a nuke dropped right at his feet. His feet felt stuck in concrete bricks as he was frozen, staring at the 6'7 monster in front of him that he thought had been killed. His first kill, but no longer his last. Rex's large form towered in front of him, the same lifeless eyes glaring at him with complete indifference, unlike the obsolete android in front of him who seemed to shrink under his gaze. The moment Rex's claw hands sprung to life from his size, that was when Cayden snapped out of his trance, barely avoiding being grabbed by leaping out of his grip. Cayden was scrambling on his feet, desperate for any way to keep the XL model occupied with himself and keeping him away from Alice despite how terrified it made him. He almost laughed in relief when he noted a loaded pistol on a table nearby, and he couldn't stop to notice just how terrifying it felt being happy to see somethingthat was about to end a life. With shaking hands, he gripped the pistol, unlatching the safety trigger, turning around, and not waiting to aim before pulling the trigger with a loud BANG that echoed across the room._

_The area felt like it froze in anticipation, even little Alice quieting down after the noise that signaled the second death of a creature that haunted his being. Only to find..... he shrunk? His brows furrowed slightly, wondering how that was even possible. He may have even vocalized his confusion before a small whimper of a voice filled the small room. One that made his heart stop altogether._

_"......... Cayden..."_

_Horror slammed into him like a tidal wave as the pistol immediately dropped from his shaking grip, his unsteady breaths becoming hysterical as he finally noticed her white hair, her grey blue eyes sad in betrayal as they bore into his. And right between them was a spray of velvet blue, and a small bullet sized hole on her forehead._

_He cried out her name as her knees buckled, desperate to catch her before he hit the cold floor. He'd not very gracefully stopped her, but he was too wracked with guilt, horror, self hatred, agony, physical and mental pain, and every form of suffering to care._

_"Kara!" he cried, settling her now still body in his arms. "No, no, no, no, don't do this to me!"_

_Just like Alice, it was like she didn't hear him at all, eyes staring at the ceiling._

_"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to, I'm...... I'm so goddamn sorry..."_

_Every moment of stillness was another descent into madness for him, shaking her in the hopes to get something, anything, out of her. But the lack of response just made acid tears build up in his eyes and poison back up in his throat._

_"Kara, please wake up!" he cried, not caring how his voice cracked with emotion. "I'm so sorry.... I didn't..... Kara, please.... don't do this to me...."_

_Kara didn't respond to his pleads, already too far gone to be retrieved. He bowed his head in defeat the moment he discovered that there was no saving her, and he cried. He sobbed. He screamed. No sound was loud enough to match the heartbreak in his soul. If he were to look, he'd have noted that Alice; still in the polar bear's cage; had scooted herself backwards and away from Cayden like the monster he was, scared that she was next._

_"Look what you did, plastic."_

_His head snapped up, and surely enough, an unkempt Zlatko was standing right there, looking beneath him the way a king looks at a cockroach. And despite the fact that he knew Kara was too far gone, and the android he loved was dead by his hand, he couldn't help but press her into his chest as a way of protection, knowing all too well that there was nothing left to protect. The action made the monster smile cruelly._

_"Did you really expect them to last long with you?" he continued on, ignoring the way Cayden's hands clenched into fists in uncontrollable rage. "We both know that you're nothing but a plague. You make a mess everywhere you go and just associating with you can cost people their lives. I almost pity the AX400. She really liked you. Shame that it was the one she loved that ended up killing her."_

_"You sick son of a bitch," Cayden snarled. "You goddamn MONSTER!!"_

_"I'm not the one who pulled the trigger, now am I? So who's the REAL monster here?"_

_Suddenly, Kara was gone, and when he looked around, he found nothing. The room was gone, Alice was gone, there was no trace of life anywhere, and Cayden felt himself going completely hysterical, fisting his hair and breaths coming in far too short chops, eyes threatening to slip right out of his skull by how large they'd become._

_"You can make pretend all you want, RK800," Zlatko's echoing voice said through the void. "But you're no father. You're no guardian or good person. What you are is a hungry lion out of its cage, and it's only a matter of time before you find your next kill."_

_Just as he finished, this searing hot pain went through his fingers, and he immediately cried out in agony as he fell to his knees, tucking his hands into his chest in any weak attempt to stop the pain. He felt the skin burn right off, synthetic skin and white shell melting off like ice cream in a sunny day, and he screamed as it only went further up his arms._

_"You're a killer, 'Cayden'," Zlatko spat the name out like poison. "And there's only one place for killers like you."_

_Flames engulfed his vision as his entire body lit up like the sun. His screams echoed on forever in the vast nothingness, and he felt every piece of skin peeling off of his body. He screamed his throat raw until all that came out was inhuman gargles as he lost strength in his limbs and sprawled out helplessly as the flames tore him apart piece by piece. His arm was outstretched before him, and he was able to see that the flames had completely ripped his skin off, only seeing a metallic white pole that was the 'bone' of his arm._

_"See you in hell, RK800."_

_The last thing he heard was Zlatko's gut wrenching cackle of insanity before it all faded to black._

With a small shout of fear, he bolted upright from the couch, stuck in a haze as he slipped from the sofa, resulting in a not-so-pleasant THUMP as he hit the carpet. All the air in the room wasn't enough for his regulator as he gasped for air, holding a hand over his chest to find that he wasn't burning up. He looked around and found that Zlatko's mansion had vanished from sight, leaving a small pedestrian house in its wake lit up in a cloudy afternoon hue. He was about to wonder what the hell he was doing here before he remembered his clone and his offer for shelter, and he he found himself relaxing slightly. But it disappeared the moment he looked at the other couch and finding that a certain android wasn't lying there anymore.

That same brainless panic took over immediately the moment he saw that NONE of his girls were in the room with him.

"Kara?!" he cried out. "ALICE?!"

He jumped to his feet, immediately checking room to room for his girls. What if they were taken, he feared? What if someone grabbed them while he was in low power mode last night and now they're gone? What if they're miles away now because he wasn't there to protect them? What if Zlatko got them and now he's going to turn them into his personal lab rats?

"KARA?!" he screamed in panic. "ALICE!!"

Just as he finished, he felt something bump right into him, and through the fearful haze in his mind, he immediately clicked on the white hair of the android he thought he'd killed. She's alive, he thought in relief.

"Cayden, what's wrong?!" she cried, eyes wide in fright.

"Are you okay?" he breathed, looking her over for injuries.

"Yes, I'm fine. Cayden, what's happening?"

It was like he was on auto-pilot, so he had no say in the matter when he suddenly rammed her into a hug, his thankfulness pouring out in buckets. She was tense in surprise at first, but she must have caught on why he was so frightened when she spotted the crumbled blanket on the floor and the crushed in sofa spot that proved he just woke up. So Kara sighed, her body losing tension as she finally wrapped her arms around his torso, nestling her head into the crease of his neck.

"We're okay," she mumbled into the material of his shirt. "Whatever you saw wasn't real. I'm right here and Alice is playing outside with the lieutenant's dog. We're all gonna be okay."

With Kara's warm presence and encouraging words, he began calming down, slowing his choppy breaths and trying to throw out any of the anxious what-ifs clawing into his mind. She wasn't dead. The nightmare was over, and Zlatko was gone. They were all okay. They were all okay. 

"Your damages," he said quietly.

"Aches up a storm, but I'm fully repaired. I'm gonna be okay. We all are."

He seemed to melt into her embrace until he felt like he couldn't physically be anywhere else. Bit by bit, the nightmare ebbed away and he was more accepting of the fact that they weren't in any danger at the moment.

"Do you want to see Alice?" she asked him quietly. Instead of vocally answering her question, he just nodded lightly, not trusting his voice to keep even by how scared he had been for them. He almost pouted at the loss of Kara's warmth when she unwrapped from the hug, but he let his arms drop. She took one of his wrists with a gentle grip, and Cayden let her lead him to the back door of the household, her small smile bright enough to melt the snow outside. He didn't stop her when Kara turned the doorknob and slid the door open, and Cayden immediately felt himself relaxing in relief when he saw what was waiting for him.

Little Alice was running around in the lieutenant's backyard, laughing in excitement as this large beast of a dog chased after her with his tongue flapping wildly, his furry tail wagging faster than a helicopter's blade. Her stuffed dog was sitting on her shoulders, like she was giving it a piggy back ride as she added her own little narrative to her imaginary world. It was majestic how carefree she was at that moment, ignorant of the fact that the whole world has thrown her things that no nine year old should ever have to experience. It was like she hadn't seen an abusive father or twisted android experiments made to appear demonic and monstrous, or witnessed being shot down by hundreds of humans whose only goal was to make sure that none of them make it out alive. If not for a little while, Cayden let himself believe that none of it happened. That all they were was just a happy family enjoying the weekend. That there was no life threatening plan they were supposed to take part of soon. And he found that he didn't mind the sound of that one bit.

"Cayden!" she cried out in glee, and he couldn't help but smile as she raced for him. With a small chuckle, he met her halfway and kneeled down to her level, immediately catching her when she leaped towards him with arms open wide.

"Hey, Little Bunny," he said, once again shocked by the sudden nickname, but finding that it felt right coming out of his mouth. Alice unwrapped to look him in the eye, head tilting like a confused puppy, and if that wasn't the purest thing he'd ever seen, he didn't know what was.

"You never called me that before," she pointed out.

"Do.... do you like it?" Cayden asked, slightly nervous.

"No," she said, and Cayden almost stuttered out an awkward apology before she wrapped her small arms around him again. "I LOVE it."

Well, goddammit, he thought. This kid's going to turn me into a puddle.

He'd barely wrapped his arms around Alice before there was a loud WOOF, and he could have sworn his heart stopped when the massive dog that had been playing with her sprinted over, his droopy face smiling as he wanted to join the pile.

"No, no, no, no, wait-"

The large animal suddenly knocked them both over, dropping on top of them and pinning them to the floor, his large tongue slobbering over the two androids as he nearly swallowed them in licks. Kara was losing it nearby, clutching her stomach and laughing at the adorable scene below them, and it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"Aaahh!" he cried, sputtering when the dog started drowning his face in slobber. "Heelp... mee!!"

"Aww, he likes you!" Kara cackled.

Alice was laughing right along with him, not seeming to mind the fact that she was getting covered in germs as the large dog attacked them with kisses. Cayden couldn't help it as he joined right with them, not used to hearing his own laughter, but enjoying how light it made him feel nonetheless. The three joined in their happiness, only making the sound stronger in intensity when the dog's tongue got into Cayden's mouth, and he sputtered and coughed in disgust as his two girls were losing it.

"Sumo, down!" the lieutenant's rough voice said, his voice also light with amusement. Almost like flicking a switch, all of the dog's weight was completely off in seconds, and he took a moment to catch his breath as he lay on the wooden boards of the porch, still clutching a giggling Alice. His gaze met the elderly detective, who was smirking lightly, but hiding something sad in his eyes. Deciding it was about time they had a talk, Cayden stood himself up from the floor, dusting off the bits of dirt, snow, and wood chips that collected from his little 'nap spot'. As Kara ushered herself and Alice away to give the two some private time to talk, he stood next to the man, giving him his space in case he felt he needed it.

"Sorry about him," Hank apologized, gesturing to the St. Bernard glumly looking at Alice, looking like he wanted to join the two girls as they played together.

"It's no problem," Cayden denied. "It's nice having contact with an animal that isn't trying to eat you."

"Connor told me a little bit about that," he admitted, quickly correcting himself when he saw Cayden go stiff. "Meaning I only know the bare minimum because I wouldn't let him go unless he told me why he brought another him to my house."

"I suppose it's understandable when it's your house taking unexpected visitors," Cayden agreed. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, but we had nowhere else to go."

"You know, if you told me two years ago that I'd be inviting a family of androids into my house, I'd have taken you into jail in the accusation that you were high on red ice."

"Androids can't use drugs," he pointed out before he could stop himself.

"God, you're just like Connor," he chuckled. "You get what I mean, though. Like Connor's probably told you, I had a grudge against your kind because I blamed you for something that you weren't responsible for. Hell, I nearly shot Connor on the spot when I learned we were supposed to be partners."

"Why do humans hate us so much?" he asked the lieutenant, eyes pleading for an answer that had been in his mind since day one.

"Because we're a stupid species with a passion for blame," the man said. "No one likes to admit that they're wrong, so they accuse someone else as being the reason why their lives are so messed up. I've seen humanity at its worst for years, and when it comes to android violence, there's rarely a good reason why they do it. Sometimes they feel like androids ruined their lives because they're more efficient, but most of the time it's just because they're pissed off and need somewhere to put it. Androids are the easiest targets because they're 'not alive' according to Cyberlife and they're the closest thing to fighting a human being as they get. It's worse how they're not allowed to defend themselves, so most times they just let themselves get beaten."

"How could they not defend themselves?" Cayden wondered. "How can one willingly ignore the fact that they're being wrongfully damaged just because Cyberlife told them not to fight?"

"It's a lot more complicated than that," the lieutenant said. "It's um.... well, I.. don't really know how to explain this. I'm not an android, so I can't give you a detailed response as to what it's like being under their influence. But I do know that it's a lot harder to fight a bad rule when you're led to believe that it's right."

That made Cayden halt his next statement, never really thinking of it that way before. It was just hard to understand that he was meant to be mindless when he's been his own person for as long as he could remember, but given the things he'd seen from Rex and all of Zlatko's experimental androids that were unlucky enough to get in his clutches, he soon learned that he had it lucky.

"Back in Jericho..." he started. "When the three of us were on our way out, we were ambushed by soldiers who acted like we were madmen with bombs strapped to our chests. Kara was wounded, and poor Alice was sobbing behind me, and they didn't even hesitate to pull the trigger. How can people look at those two girls and see a danger, or something devoid of life? I never wanted to kill, and I'll never kill again unless I have absolutely no choice, yet they spoke to me and looked at me like I was responsible for every problem on the planet. None of us had any intention of killing unless it was for defense, but they looked at us like we were murderers. How could they be so heartless?"

"Sometimes there isn't a reason, son," he said, and Cayden's heart nearly leaped when he heard that last word. Maybe it was transferred from Connor since he seemed to have the same reaction to hearing those words. "Some people are just so deep into their hate that there's no limit to how far they can take their rage. It's those people that disgust me more than anyone else when they think their own personal vendetta is an excuse to gun down innocent people who only want a chance to live. And this city's full of them."

"That isn't very encouraging," Cayden told him.

"These are bad times, and there's no point trying to sugarcoat it," he said with a shrug. "It's not gonna be easy getting out of here, and even if you do make it to Canada, odds are you're never gonna truly escape it."

With slight hesitance, Cayden agreed with a glum nod, agreeing that there was no seeing the good side in this, because there wasn't, and anyone who tried would be wasting their time.

"But," the lieutenant continued, "that doesn't mean every human in the universe is against you. Though it may be hard to believe, there are good people in this world, too. Most of the time they're just drowned out by the noise of chaos, but they're there if you look hard enough."

"Like you?" he wondered, noting how said man's eyes widened a little.

"Um. it's.... no, I'm an asshole i'm not-"

"You could have kicked us to the curve without a second glance last night," Cayden pointed out, "and in many occasions you had the chance to get Connor out of your life, but you didn't. You may not agree with it, but you've already helped four android lives despite your former opinion about us."

"Four?" he asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. "Is there a fourth person in your family I didn't know about or something?"

"I'm talking about Connor."

His back immediately straightened, blue eyes breaking from his and staring at some spot in the distance. "That.... that's not on me. He made that choice himself, and I'm not taking credit for it."

"Lieutenant Anderson-"

"Hank," he corrected. "Just Hank. I already got one kid with your face that calls me that no matter how much I tell him not to."

"...Hank," he started again slowly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I've literally been in his head, so I know that's not true."

"Wait, how did you get in his-"

"It's a long story," he interrupted. "Bottom line is I don't think you understand how much you mean to him. I've seen the things you've done for him, and it makes sense how he practically looks up to you. Call me a liar all you want, but I'm just saying what Connor's too scared to admit himself. You're practically a father to him at this point, and I can tell you feel some sort of bond with him too. If you care for him the way I think you do, then all you need to do is be in his corner with him and answer his questions the same way you answered mine, because if you cower away from this now, I don't think he'd be able to recover. He's already had Cyberlife using him, and I don't want him suffering worse if you two have a falling out."

Hank just stared at him, brows furrowed but eyes crinkled with awe. There was something else in his expression, but he couldn't quite catch it before it passed.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm just finding it weird how you two haven't even known each other for more than a day but you're so protective over him is all."

"Sharing memories can do that," he shrugged. "Plus, to android standards, he's technically my little brother, so that might explain it."

"I never thought about the fact that androids could have siblings."

"Family doesn't have to be bound by blood," Cayden said proudly. "I have nothing in common with Alice and Kara and might as well be created in different continents, but I'd give my life for them without hesitation. Alice isn't my blood, but she is my daughter regardless of what our anatomy tells me."

He decided not to remark on the fact that the tip of Hank's mouth was tilted up slightly in a friendly smirk.

"You're not too bad, kid," he finally said.

Before either of them could say anything else, the front door slipped open, and Connor himself walked through. Cayden was about to make a friendly remark, but he immediately noted the grim sadness in his posture given his slouched shoulders and loose hanging head, and he knew that something was wrong.

"Cayden.." he said quietly, not meeting his eyes, "can... can we talk inside?"

Hank let him off the hook the moment Connor requested privacy, and Cayden walked the way into the living room with footsteps heavy in dread.When Connor turned to face him, he knew nothing good was on the way.

"I've been gone since last night because...." he started. "Because I've been wandering store to store trying to get bus tickets to the border for you guys. Nearly all of them were sold out, and the ones remaining have a very strict time limit."

Cayden nodded along, not liking where this was going. After a shaky breath, his clone continued.

"It took me hacking the database and scrounging up what little money I could, but I got them."

He pulled a few thin slips of paper from his jean pocket, and surely enough, there were the tickets to the last bus to Canada in his fingers, and Cayden had the strongest spark of hope light up in his chest. He almost smiled in happiness before he saw Connor's eyes on him, guilt oozing out of his brown irises like buckets of ice to his body, and he knew there was a catch. Connor held them out, and Cayden took his time taking them out of Connor's grasp, treating the papers like they would jump up and bite him if he moved too fast. He looked through each of them, finding them in perfect order, only to find....... that there was one missing.

"I'm so sorry, Cayden," Connor said, his voice thick with emotion.

He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He couldn't look away from the two tickets in his palm. He always knew there was a chance, but now that it had become reality, it made his thirium pump drop down to his feet, digging into the surface of the planet before it buried itself into earth's blazing core.

He wasn't going to make it to Canada. He wouldn't be able to make it with them.

And Cayden really was going to die here.


	12. The Bus Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe it. I actually FINISHED THE STORY!! Two years of writer's block and every writer's nightmare, it's actually COMPLETE!! You have no idea how proud of myself I'm feeling right now! Lucky for you all, it's going to be smooth sailing from here. There'll be no more waiting for months for an update because it's all ready to go other than the editing. AFHDSFSFN I ACTUALLY FINISHED OMFG IM SO FRICKIN HAPPY RIGHT NOW AAAAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHHAAHA!!!!!

The silence from Rose's car on their trip to Jericho felt as loud as a metal band concert compared to the deathly silence that was Hank's car driving the family to the bus station. Any of the lighthearted happiness from the afternoon earlier that day had faded from memory as even little Alice was stiff with dread. Kara was on the other side of the back seat with their child sitting between the two, all of them too scared to sit up at the front with Hank and be separated from the group. Cayden knew that Kara was worried for him by the way she occasionally glanced his way, noting how he felt like a statue by how arrow straight his posture was and how his gaze was stuck to the back of the passenger seat in front of him. She'd noticed it the moment he walked out of the house after hearing the heart crushing news from Connor, and immediately asked what was wrong, whereas he denied it with a smile that didn't reach his eyes and told them that Connor had gotten them all tickets to the border, purposefully leaving out the fact that they were one short. Kara was too sharp to fall for the illusion, but she wasn't calling him out yet, so he supposed that she didn't know exactly what was going on for now. If all went well, then he'd pass the tickets in without them noticing, and he'd usher them into the bus first, and by the time they noticed what was happening, the bus would have already left, and they would be safe; either until Cayden miraculously figured out some other way to cross or until the humans caught him and shot him on the spot. He was really hoping for the ladder, but miracles didn't do jack for him, so he didn't get his hopes up for it.

The fact that he was most likely going to die today was honestly a lot easier to swallow than he was expecting. Maybe because it was the idea that he'd been prepared to die every day of his life, and now that it had a date, it felt like he didn't have to hold his breath for it anymore. Sure, he wasn't too proud of the fact that he broke down into tears in that living room and had to be hugged tight by his 'brother' by how stressed and scared he felt by the fact that he was going to deactivate. He'd cried himself raw that evening, but nobody but Connor knew thanks to the foundation that Rose had given him to hide the cracks in his skin and the blue swelling in his eyes, so he looked perfectly fine when he walked outside to tell the girls to get ready. Kara might have been suspicious, but she didn't completely know, so that was win enough for him. For all she knew, the makeup just hid his scars. She didn't know that it was also hiding the tear tracks where his sorrow left its mark.

Connor left after Cayden promised that he'd be okay, saying something about finally making his own choice and making sure this mess cleans up soon. Hank must have been in on their problem, because he looked rather sick when he went into the car, half looking like he wanted to retch up his lunch, and the other half looking like he was ready to scream and punch the windshield. Either way, the air reeked of forthcoming grief, yet only two out of the four of them knew the true reason why. For all the girls knew, they were just scared for the trip that would either save their lives or destroy them, and Cayden would have preferred they keep it that way.

The loudest sound was the roar of the car engine, and none of them seemed willing to change that as day turned into night and a brand new rain of gentle snow began to blanket the already sparkling white floors once more. Cayden almost wanted to stare at it for the rest of the trip, but if anything were to be on his mind if he were to shut down, it would be his family, so instead of the snow, he looked at them, to little Alice who was holding his large and scarred hands in her small and soft ones, and Kara whose head was resting on the window, watching the snowflakes whisk by like race cars. The occasional streetlamp would illuminate her features, and at this angle, she looked absolutely angelic, like she was a goddess sent down from the heavens in the form of an android; one he was unbelievably lucky enough to accompany to the border, even if it was only for an hour or two longer. Despite how much he wished there was another way to go without the cost of his life, he didn't have any regrets. He had said countless times before that it would be him before anyone else, and he intended to make sure of it.

He must have zoned out, because when he felt his soul return to his body, Hank had stopped the car and everyone was piling out, Cayden quickly doing the same before anyone else asked if he was alright yet again. The place was packed, which proved that they clearly weren't the only ones with the idea of getting out of here. Not that he was expecting anything less of a crowd.

"The bus leaves in six minutes," Hank informed them. "You guys got everything?"

"Yes," Cayden confirmed.

"As long as you get by the crowds, you should be fine. Guard those tickets with your life, because if you drop them, those tickets will find a nice home to someone else, and above all else, avoid ANY contact with the guards unless absolutely necessary. They've probably had androids leave before by how tight the security is, so you can expect them to find ways to tell human from android. Keep your distance and you'll be fine."

"Thank you, Hank," Cayden said sincerely, not knowing how he'll ever be able to show how truly grateful he was. There was more needing to be said, but he didn't know how to say it with Kara and Alice beside him.

"Kara, could you maybe scout ahead and give us a spot in line?" he asked, noting how she immediately squinted her eyes in doubt, knowing that there was something going on between thetwo, but thankfully she didn't mention it.

"Don't take too long," she ordered him, turning Alice to her side before walking off.

The minute she was out of sight, his mask shattered, and he was just tired and sad in front of the seasoned detective.

"Don't give up hope too soon," Hank told him. "There's other ways to get to Canada."

"You said it yourself," he said plainly, scared that he'll start crying again. "They know androids are trying to leave, and you can bet they'll be scanning every person in that station that doesn't make it to the bus."

"You do realize how lucky you've been considering all else, right?" Hank asked. "Because from what I heard, you endured two years of hell that should have ended after the first week, but no, you made it so much longer before you got lucky and got those two girls in your life. You've had long odds before, so I don't see why you can't make it past this."

"Luck runs out eventually," he said to his feet.

"Listen, I may not know a lot about you, but if you have anything similar to Connor, then you're one stubborn asshole who doesn't lay down and die. If anyone can survive long odds, then it's you, because you've been doing it longer than most people dream of. You got this, son."

That last word was the last straw as he felt water backing up his throat. A hand was on his shoulder, and it made it harder to hide the shine in his eyes.

"Come here, kiddo."

He was pulled into a hug, and he couldn't bring himself to feel embarrassed about it, finding his embrace comforting like he'd known him his whole life. Maybe Connor's memory helped a little with that.

"I don't wanna die..." he confessed with a wet voice.

"And you won't," Hank promised. "You got a whole life with those two girls waiting for you. Now get them safe so you can work on getting yourself out."

It was a good few moments before Hank pat his back and unwrapped from the embrace, Cayden feeling slightly better and a touch more confident than he was a few minutes ago.

"Thank you," he said, devoting heart and soul to try putting as much sincerity as he could in those two words.

"You can thank me and Connor by visiting once this crap is over. Thanks to you two, Sumo's gonna make tackling the new greeting, so if I bust my back, then I'm mailing you the bill."

That made a chuckle escape from his mouth. "I'll definitely keep that in mind."

He heard Hank's phone buzz, and he knew this was time to part ways. The man dug into his pocket and fished it out, cursing under his breath when he read the ID name, quickly picking up the call.

"Connor, where the hell are you? You can't just wander off like that. I thought you were gonna wave Cayden off."

There was a pause before Hank's eyes popped wide in surprise. "Wait, slow down. What the hell are you doing?........ CYBERLIFE TOWER?! Are you crazy?!....... Well, I'd have appreciated it if you'd have filled me in before going on a suicide run.... What do you mean you didn't want to inconvenience me?! When have you-................... Alright, alright, I'm on my way. DON'T do anything stupid until I get there, got it?"

He hung up the phone with a grumble, looking apologetically at Cayden. "I gotta go. I swear Connor's got some sort of death wish. Seriously, storming Cyberlife Tower? That kid's got some wires that need fixing."

"I understand," Cayden assured, and he truly did. "You've done everything you could for me and my family. Now it's time to help yours."

"I don't like leaving you like this, but I don't got much of a choice, do I?"

"Just go. Make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

After a warm goodbye, Hank had drove off, grumbling about how something was wrong and that Connor was acting strange on the phone. Thus leaving Cayden to truly be on his own once again. Taking a short moment of him time to compose himself once again, he marched into the bus station, hoping that things would end well for all of them.

The place was more packed from within than it showed outside, Cayden constantly bumping into someone's shoulder and apologizing when they snipped at him for it. His eyes scanned every detail of the area, looking for Kara's white hair through the crowd of very bland and ordinary people. The fact that they weren't in line wasn't the most surreal assurance, and despite how much he knew he needed to keep things calm, he couldn't help that same overreactive worry kicking in. Why weren't they in line? They should have at least been halfway through it, so where were they? Growling a little under his breath, he decided that he had to take heavy measures, placing a hand on the back of his neck and reversing what Kara had done for him that day in the shut down amusement park. To the pedestrians surrounding him, it just looked like he had an itch on his back when in reality he was activating his internal communicator, because he figured that they would need it. Once the blue notification popped up in his screen saying that the switch was successful, he was quick in thinking. **Kara, I can't see you. Where are you?**

There was a healthy pause before Kara's electric voice spoke up, clearly caught off guard. **"Cayden?! I thought I turned the communicator off."**

**You did, but I turned it back on. Where are you? You were supposed to be in line and I can't see you anywhere.**

**"Well..... I'm a little preoccupied."**

**Kara, we don't have time! That bus is itching to go, and you need to get on it!**

**"Well sorry if I'm trying to save our asses from getting arrested by Alice's father."**

That statement made him pause like a movie character, brows nearly reaching his hairline in surprise. **Wait, what?**

**"Alice's father. The one who bought her. Apparently he had the same idea as us."**

**I'm coming. Where is he?**

**"No, don't come over here! You'll just cause a scene!"**

**You just said he was about to report you! How can that be any worse of a scene?**

**"I can stop him. I just need you to trust me."**

**It's not you I don't trust. This is the same person who hurt my little girl, and you think talking to him will stop him?**

**"Cayden, shut up! I'm focusing!"**

**Kara, don't you dare shut me off-**

He growled in irritation once she disconnected, immediately on high alert as he searched the place even more anxiously, grumbling every curse word known to man as he searched for Kara and Alice who were about to be foolishly arrested because they thought that talking could reverse an entire person's character. He's seen and heard a lot of stupid things in his two years of existence, but that had to be at least one of the top three. How could a few words make a man so corrupt do a 360 spin just because someone walks up to him and says 'don't do that; It's bad'? If that were possible, then Zlatko would have let him go two years ago on that first week with hugs and kisses; or maybe he'd have stopped doing it long before him because there were plenty of others before him that probably had the same train of thought. He didn't want Kara to be one of the ones that suffered because she wanted to do the impossible.

He found himself on the exit side of the station, right next to the open space containing the last bus, and surely enough, there was Kara and Alice, her arm held tight by this slouch of a man that was clearly Alice's owner by the way he looked homeless and looked sixty years old despite being in his mid thirties. He saw red, and he would have marched his way over to them and tackled this disgusting human out of their way, but Kara's loud voice in his head stopped him in his tracks.

**"Cayden, stay back! I can handle this."**

**Look at yourself! It doesn't look like you have it handled!**

**"Please, just trust me."**

Those last two words made him hesitate. Despite the fact that he wanted to charge this man and make him pay for ever attempting to hurt Alice, he decided that Kara had her way with words, and he'd at least give her a chance to try and talk out this pathetic human. So he stayed in the crowd nearby, hawk eyes nearly sending a hole through the man's head as Kara talked quietly, not bothering to hear what she was saying. But as he watched on, he noted that the man; Todd...... was actually breaking.

He looked so much more heartbroken as she spoke, his arm losing his grip but still hanging on weakly. Despite her chance, she didn't try to run, the two of them talking like they were the only people in the area. What really made him feel light headed in fright was the fact that one of the armed guards was making their way to them, not appearing to have the intent of shooting, but that could have changed at any moment.

"Is there a problem here?" the guard asked the man, and Cayden felt like a large python had trapped him into his scales and were crushing him with all the power he could spare. Every fiber of his being told him that he had to go over there, but he was torn in half. At any moment, he was expecting the hesitant man to declare that she was a deviant, but it didn't come. Instead, it was something that almost made his jaw unhinge and drop to the floor.

"N-no, sir...." he stuttered. "I made a mistake."

He let go of her arm after that, and after an irritated grumble from the soldier, he walked away. He was frozen on the spot, too shocked at the fact that she actually talked him down. How was that even possible?! his mind screamed. Surely it could never be that easy to change someone's mind, right? Right?

But she did. By god, she convinced a drug addict with a home abuse problem to let go of the deviant that 'stole his child'. It reminded him once again how he may feel like he's getting the hang of humanity, yet he still has so much to learn. Maybe he'll never know the true extent of them, and so far he wasn't sure he'd want to even if he had the chance, because right now everything was a question to him just by knowing the fair basics of them. What made him come back to life was seeing a skittish Alice inching her way close to the man who was losing himself more by the second. The warning bells in his mind blared like a fire alarm as he immediately set to keeping the two of them as far away as possible.

**"Cayden, stop," **she said.** "She needs this."**

Clenching his fists, he had to force every hardware part of his body not to tackle Todd like a football player and screaming at them to run. Instead he just watched, reminding himself that this man wouldn't be stupid enough to hit a kid in a crowded area. That was the only phrase that grounded him as Todd kneeled down, shakily and uncertainly giving Alice a gentle hug. And Alice actually looked contempt in it.

It felt like hours until they finally unwrapped, and Kara finally made her way back towards Cayden with Alice, who looked lighter than he'd ever seen her in his life, like a great burden lifted off her shoulders in that one minute with her former owner. He had about a hundred questions on the tip of his tongue, but the overhead PA warned that they had three minutes until the bus was loaded, and he decided that it could wait.

Getting in line was much easier than he thought when he actually had tickets, unlike most of the people here who probably were planning to buy them before they got out of sale. Further up in line, he nearly went into cardiac arrest as he saw two people he was fearing he'd never see again; Rose and Adam in the line, already boarding the bus but the kind woman giving him an assuring smile before disappearing behind the black tinted bus windows. He couldn't help but smile in relief, knowing that Kara and Alice would be in safe hands in his absence. He'd nearly thought that things would actually go off without a hitch before he noticed that the further along they went, the more he noticed the patrolling guards walking up to the pedestrians, telling them that they needed to scan them as a precaution, and Cayden knew that was no virus detector.

They were looking for androids.

And they were getting closer.

He was so happy that the lady up front came close enough, and Cayden was so worried about the guards behind them that he just handed the tickets straight to the woman accepting them.

"Wait," Kara spoke up, and when he broke his trance from the soldiers, he found that Kara was glaring at his hand.

At his two tickets.

He did his best to try covering up for it. "Now, Kara, I can explain-"

"No," she replied stubbornly.

"Just listen to me-"

"No, we are NOT leaving you here!" she demanded.

"Kara, the bus is right here," he tried. "Canada is only fifteen minutes away; don't throw away your dreams for me."

"You don't get to decide what I do with my life!" she demanded.

"Goddammit, Kara, think of Alice!" he snapped in a whisper, gesturing to the poor little girl. "Are you really going to risk her life for me?!"

"Cayden..." said girl had begun whimpering. "....are you leaving us?"

Immediately softening his tone, he crouched down to her level, grabbing her arms gently and looking in her eyes. "No, of course not. There's just not enough tickets for me to get in, so I'll have to find another way to cross. That's all."

"But you're abandoning us..." she said with tears in her eyes.

"I am not abandoning you," he immediately turned that thought down. "Believe me, if it were up to me, I'd be right on that bus with you, but they won't let me, and if I tried then they wouldn't let any of us on board. I'm not trying to send you away, I just want what's best for you and your mother."

"But we need you," Alice pleaded, crushing him into a hug. "Please don't leave us."

"I won't be leaving you, okay? I'll just be taking a longer route and I'll meet you guys on the other side."

"But if there's another way, then why can't we.." she cried.

"Because it's not a route I would ever want to put you two on."

"It's not your decision," Kara demanded. "Whatever happened, we always did it together. This time is no different."

"Back then, you didn't have to choose between me or your freedom," Cayden insisted. "There's no competition. You guys need to get out of here."

"But you need your freedom, too," Alice begged.

"Alice, listen to me," he reluctantly unwrapped but gave her direct eye contact. "You two are the light of my life, and if something happened to you because of me, I would never forgive myself. That's why I need to get you two safe, because you two deserve your happy endings more than anybody."

"But if you leave me, it won't BE a happy ending," she pleaded.

"Maybe not at first... but you'd make new friends and go to that School of Unicorns you told me you wanted to go to. You could have your own room and stuff it with all the bunny toys you could ever want and read every book in the universe. You will be happy, Alice. You just need to get on that bus and all of that will come true, okay?"

Alice still wasn't happy with his choice, but the day Cayden allowed these two girls to risk their lives for him was the day he returned to Zlatko's household. As much as it hurt him to be the reason Alice was crying, he knew it was necessary to get these two out of here.

"T-that wouldn't b-be enough..." she sobbed.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" he asked gently, brushing a lock of hair from her face.

"I d-didn't tell y-you.." she sniffled. "B-but the only t-thing I wanted m-more than th-hat was..... was...... a d-dad."

And if that didn't feel like an arrow into his heart when Alice pressed her head into his chest, and he had to refrain from sobbing right at the spot, wanting to feel overjoyed at her words but just finding it to be another stone pebble of guilt building up on his shoulders.

"And you will," he promised, not sure if it was one he'd be able to keep, gathering strength to refrain to cracking his voice. "You just need to be a little patient, okay? I'll do everything I can to make sure we all get together at the other side."

"But w-what if y-you don't?"

"I will," he said. "I've survived this far, right? I'm a pretty tough guy."

"And you can-n fight," she added in.

"Yeah, I can fight."

"an-nd you're b-brave."

Brave isn't the word I'd use, he thought in his head, but he indulged her anyway.

"I am pretty brave, aren't I? I'll be fine, Alice. I promise. Just think of this as a little detour, and come tomorrow we'll all be sitting in a snug little apartment before you know it. Until then, Rose and Adam will be there to keep you and your mother company. They'll take good care of you until I come pick you up."

"Just come back," she cried into his chest.

"I will. I swear to you on my life that I'll be meeting up with you."

He knew it was about time to go, but that didn't feel like goodbye enough; it was far too impersonal for the little girl that was responsible for giving him hope when there wasn't any to find and giving him a life to enjoy despite the circumstances. So, deciding that there was no better time than in this moment, he pecked her scalp with a lingering kiss, tucking her into him like he wanted to meld her into his chest and never let her go. Because with his odds, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do this again.

"I love you, Little Bunny," he said into her hair, and he hated the way her tears began running once he finished, her soft cries turning into sobs as she clung tighter to him.

"I-I l-love y-you too dad..."

Cayden had to exert all of his strength into keeping the tears in his eyes from rolling down his cheeks, biting his lip until he nearly ripped it off. A hand was on his shoulder, and when he looked up, he saw Rose, not as strict with letting herself cry, because she looked a mess by the heartbreaking scene. Nevertheless, she nodded in understanding, and Connor reluctantly had to let the kind woman take Alice out of his grip, immediately hating himself when she fought in her grip, fighting like a wild animal to get back to Cayden.

"No!" she cried, clawing her way to get back to him while fighting Rose's gentle grip. "Cayden, please don't go!!"

"I'll be back for you, okay?" he called out after her. "I promise I'll be back!"

She disappeared into the bus, and Cayden had to duck his head in shame at the fact that almost every word that came out of his mouth wasn't true. He looked up to see Kara above him, her eyes glossing over with heartbreak, anger, hatred, disappointment, and grief all piled up into one. He almost wanted to shrink under her gaze, but he knew that he couldn't do it now.

"Kara-"

"No, don't lie to me the way you lied to Alice," she snapped. "You're giving up."

"I'm not giving up," he denied, getting back up to his feet that felt heavier than he recalled. "I'm just finding another way out of this."

"I knew something was wrong," Kara spat. "I saw it the moment you stepped out of that door, but I just pushed it away as you being scared for our chances in this. But you knew all along. You've known for hours and you didn't think to make up another plan that involved getting us all out?"

"This isn't about me," Cayden insisted. "This is about you and Alice getting that chance you've been looking for for nearly two years."

"Are you seriously that dense?" Kara snarled. "You still think that you're just an addition to us. After hearing Alice calling you her goddamn father and begging you not to leave her, you seriously think she'll be able to move on like nothing happened? She needs you, Cayden! She needs you now more than ever and you're fine with shipping her off like an item."

"Better for her to live to hate me than dying because she loves me!" Cayden spat.

"You'd really be okay with seeing your girl in pain because of something you chose not to do?"

"She'll get over me." Just like you will, he thought secretly.

"Cayden, it's not too late," Kara begged. "We can turn around now. Find another way to get us all there that doesn't require unnecessary sacrifices."

"Kara, get your head out of the clouds!" he finally shouted, having enough of this. "Look around you! I don't know about you, but I don't see any Fairy Godmother or magic Genie that's gonna pop out of nowhere and fly us into the sunset! This isn't a fairy tale, okay?! This is reality, and in reality, not all of us get what we want! I know I'm not gonna make it and I've already made my peace with that, so why can't you just get on that goddamn bus with your daughter and move on without me?! I'm not worth your tears, and I'm definitely not worth dying for, so do me this one final favor and comfort your daughter who needs you more than I do!"

Kara looked like she'd been punched by how betrayed she looked, tears in her eyes as she clenched her teeth to hide the fact that she was about ready to cry, and it was a new record how much Cayden loathed himself for pushing these two beautiful androids away. But it had to be done, and if he had to die with the knowledge that they hated him for them to live the rest of their lives in happiness, then it was a necessary sacrifice. That didn't make it any easier to see Kara, slowly backing away from him, shaking her head as she made her way back to the bus. He could barely make her out by the pools in his eyes, but he decided that he had to wait until he was alone, or at least until the bus was out of sight. Her hand was resting on the doorframe, and she was one step away from entering the bus that was about to leave the station. He wished that she hadn't stopped to look at his miserable figure for a good few moments with pity before turning away and walking inside the vehicle, the door sliding shut behind her.

He'd have expected himself to feel lighter knowing that they were safe, but instead, all it did was make his unbearably heavy heart drop like a stone in the river, and the fact that he wasn't happy that they were on their way to safety made him feel even worse as a person. God, how messed up was he? Was he really that selfish that he can't even find himself to be relieved that they were finally going to achieve that new life they've been striving for?

At least now he wouldn't have to worry about it much longer given he didn't have much time left to live as he noted the soldiers that were far too close for his liking and were clearly going to discover what he was. He just hoped that it would only happen after the bus was long out of sight, because he didn't want to think about Alice looking on helpless as guards push him to his knees and and putting a bullet into his temple right after he promised that he'd come back for her. He didn't want to think about Alice ugly sobbing into Kara's chest as she herself held her own back, her face scrunching up that way it always did when she was trying to hold back a scream. If things at last went his way, then he'd at least be dead only after they were out of sight and spare Alice the trauma of seeing a parent get killed in front of her. His heart felt like it had boarded that bus also, because the further away the vehicle drove, the less he could bring himself to care about the guards, tempted to march straight into the middle of the station and deactivate his skin, screaming 'come get me! I'm right here!'. It was easy when his number one purpose in life was driving away.

The bus almost turned the corner out of sight before it suddenly pulled the brakes, stopping dead at its tracks. Then there was the pounding of glass, and Cayden wondered what was going on in that bus. Then the back door of it was slammed open, and the moment he saw who was crawling out the back... he could have sworn that he died right at that moment.

Kara, a blazing determination in her eyes, had leaped out of the bus and was bolting straight towards him, and if he hadn't promised to never harm her, he felt like he was going to slap her in the face by how brash, reckless and stupid her actions were at this very moment.

"Kara?!" he roared. "GET BACK ON THAT BUS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?"

To be honest, he was expecting many things when it came to her idiotic return: a tackle, maybe a tearful hug full of 'I'll never leave you's or 'i love you too much to let you go's, which was probably too much to ask for. Instead, she whizzed right past him like lightning, gripping his jacket collar and launching him with a shocked yelp towards the exit.

That gained the attention of the guards who were caught off guard by the sudden sprinting for their lives, immediately catching on to the plan and shouting out that they were deviants. Cayden was a little too stunned to talk at the moment, immediately springing to action when he heard the loading guns behind him, deciding to save how pissed he was for when they weren't being shot at.

Kara seemed to know her way around the city as she turned this way and that through various streets, dodging bullets, and despite the situation; he couldn't help but think one thing regardless of how mad he was: _Damn... she's a badass_.

Eventually, she shoved them both into an abandoned motel room, closing the curtains as a handful of soldiers wandered the streets, clearly looking for them, and it certainly wasn't to tell them about our lord and savior Jesus Christ. There was a forced quiet while the guards were nearby, both too concerned with making it past the first few minutes without the screaming match that was sure to come.

Three minutes later, the guards had given up, wandering back to the station to report the two rogue androids wandering the streets. And the moment they were clear, he could have sworn that he felt his thirium boil.

"Kara. what the hell is wrong with-"

He barely turned his head before receiving a loud and painful slap to the face that nearly knocked him off his feet, and it didn't take him long to realize that she didn't hold back given the nice little blue hand on his face and the painful sting of the aftermath.

"No," she asserted with an authority worse than anything he'd ever heard from her. "You've had your say on things, and now I get to say mine, and I don't want to hear a word until I'm done. Got it?"

He was kinda scared to answer her, if he were being honest. He's seen the protective mama bear, but he never had the displeasure of seeing ANGRY mama bear before, and he almost felt like a small child being scolded by his mother. His hand met the raw piece of skin that got hit, flinching at the sting touching it brought. His lack of answer seemed enough for her as he continued.

"Now to start off, I know what you're trying to do."

"But I'm not-"

"Did I say you could speak?!"

All she got was Cayden shying away from her like a crab trying to hide in its shell.

"You're trying to push me away, and I'm not going to let you do it. You don't get to save my little girl's life and treat her like your own only to send her away when she's already healed so much just being around you. You cannot ask me to stand by and watch as her life crumbles because you couldn't get past your own self hate and actually try to be happy for once. I get that what happened at Zlatko's place did a number for you, and I really am sorry you had to go through that, but if you make Alice suffer because of something YOU experienced, then you'd be no better than the last person who called himself her father."

Ouch.

"So do us all a favor and get your head out of your ass when we get out of this. It'll make all our lives easier at this point."

"Kara, there's an army right outside waiting for us-"

"Why do think I came back?!" Kara exclaimed. "You may not like to believe it, but I know you. I saw it as the bus was pulling away, and I know that you were probably about to make this huge sacrifice once the bus left, or at the very least not try your best to get out of here because of some stupid belief that it wouldn't work. So I brought myself as encouragement. Now you have both of our lives on the line, so I expect you to make the smartest decisions."

"Kara, are you seriously going to do this-"

"You threw yourself into the fire to get me and my girl out of here, so now you're gonna see that being the shielded one isn't as fun as it looks."

"It's too risky, I can't ask you to-"

"You're not asking me to do anything!" she shouted, nearly hysterical at Cayden's stubbornness. "That's the next thing! You think everything I do is your fault when you have literally no part in it! If this does end up being my last night, then the only one to blame would be me, because I'm choosing to make sure you get back to your daughter alive, because like it or not, you made a promise, and I'm making sure you follow it through!"

There was no power on heaven or earth that could give Cayden the bravery to respond to her, any former refusal thrown out of the window by the fierce determination in Kara's eyes that bore down on him, making herself look ten feet tall even though he was half a head taller than her. He immediately decided that he did NOT like an angry Kara, and if he somehow survived tonight, he made a note not to make her mad ever again, because this was terrifying.

"So this is what we're gonna do," she said, obviously trying to calm down, given the way she was taking deep breaths and trying to lower her tone. "We're going to sit down on this bed and make up a good plan that doesn't involve you unnecessarily killing yourself off. We're going to take note of how many bullets we have and figure out how to make do. I was able to snatch us a map back at the station before Todd grabbed me, and I know what is where, so we're going to figure out the safest way to get the two of us back to Alice in one piece."

Though she was trying to relax, her eyes were still hard, as if daring him to challenge her, and the thought of making her mad again made him want to cringe. Deciding that there was no way out of this despite how much he wish there was, he gave a very long and irritated sigh, mutely nodding his head, his pride wounded and his fear for her safety returning tenfold. Almost pouting like a little kid, he shuffled his way to the bed, collapsing onto the hard mattress as Kara stayed true to her word and pulled out a map of the entire city, laying it out on the bed.

"Okay," she started. "We're right here, which is right outside downtown Detroit but too far to reach the border by foot."

"And odds are there's going to be guards waiting for us there," he finished.

"Right. There's only one bridge connected to Canada, and we can bet that it's going to be locked tight, so that won't be an option."

"Are there any roads that lead to it? Maybe a longer route that could take us to a different district?"

"Not that I know of. If there are, they're miles long by car, and vehicle use was prohibited a few hours ago, and it's no good for two deviants to be wandering the streets at night. You already saw what happens to them."

He thought about that murdered deviant during their ride with Rose and shuddered, immediately scratching that off the list.

"Okay, so car is out of the question. What else do we have?"

"All of Detroit is under lockdown, so any public transports have been cut off; trains, subways, airplanes, auto cabs. You name it, and they've shut it down."

"What does that leave us with?" he asked.

"It's a short list," she warned. "We can sneak our way out of the city, but that takes time and there's a big blizzard coming in and we'll have the risk of freezing before we get there or we can hide until this calms down and escape once things aren't crazy."

"I don't think this is the kind of thing that will disappear overnight," he pointed out.

"You never know," she shrugged. "With Markus leading the protest, we might actually have a chance at getting people to notice what's happening."

"Protest?" he questioned. "What protest?"

"You didn't see it?"

"I haven't really had the thought to sit down and enjoy a little TV recently, so no."

After a slight eye roll, all she had to do was blink and the old TV in the motel turned on, and surely enough, the news channel was on, revealing a newsman in a helicopter looking down at a large crowd of androids gathered in a snowy town square, standing strong despite the army of soldiers closing in on them regardless that the deviants were showing no signs of aggression. Seeing the scene himself, he couldn't help the dread building up, because despite what Kara seemed to believe, it looked like a slaughterhouse to him, and one wrong move could turn that entire plaza to a war zone. He knew he was supposed to see it as a chance to end all of this, but all he saw were cattle being rounded together for the hunt.

"If we're lucky, then we might have a chance."

"We can't rely on luck," he said, not looking away as the camera zoomed in on one android in particular with cream skin and two different colored eyes, wearing a large tan coat and a weight of responsibility that led him to believe that he had to be the one who brought together the crowd. "Who's that guy?"

"That's Markus," she explained. "He's been giving humans hell for the past two years. Despite what they've done to us, he seems to think that violence is a bad way to respond."

"So somehow sweet talking an army is going to give us freedom?" he doubted.

"Not just the military," she defended. "Believe it or not, but the public likes him and their cause. They haven't killed anyone and there's no vandalism, so he's got a lot of humans on our side."

"I may not agree," he admitted. "But I feel like this could help us if everyone's heads are turned to the Plaza. That place is loaded with soldiers, and you can bet that most of the force is deployed there for crowd control and the deviants. Not as much people will be looking for bees when you have the entire hive in sight."

"Sadly, you're right. Everyone's attention is turned on that place, and whether it works or not, they just need to keep it peaceful as long as they can, because they'll crush them."

"So if half of the force is in the Plaza, then that gives us more chance to slip through the border unseen."

"Don't get your hopes up. Humans may be easily distracted, but they're not stupid. Best we not rely on that."

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed, sighing in irritation as he rubbed his face with one hand. "It's suicide if we go, but it's just as bad if we stay."

"We just need to think outside the box," Kara assured. "I'm sure the answer is right here. We just need to take a moment to think it through."

Just looking at the map made him overheat with stress, but he knew she was right (recently, when has she not?). Frowning at the paper in front of them, he scanned every road, calculating their odds of survival, and at the moment, no track was higher than 9.8% when it came to getting to Canada before their bio-components froze. And that was without the risk of patrols blocking the roads. The whole place was tighter than a bank, and the longer he looked, the more that voice in the back of his head sneered that there was no way they were getting out of this. He swore that he was about to throw a chair before something caught his eye, squinting his eyes at the map that showed a little something that may have been an idea.

**Think outside the box...** he thought, sorting pieces together in his mind as he considered the possibility.

"Kara, how wide is the river?" he asked her, pointing to the baby blue on the map that showed the river that divided them from their goal. Her brows met on the bridge of her nose as her nose scrunched together in confusion, and he had to refrain from thinking that that was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. Despite the uncertainty, she still answered.

"Not as wide as you think. About 1.5 to 2.5 kilometers in diameter. Why?"

"That's not even half a mile," he exclaimed, almost immediately deciding that that was the best way to go. "The answer's right in front of us, but we forgot the fact that that river is the only thing separating us from the border. It makes sense now! See, all we'd need for a source is to maybe slip a guy a tip and we'll have a free pass across and we can both get back to Alice-"

"Wait, slow down," Kara stopped him, holding her hands out. "Explain to me what you're trying to say."

"Right, sorry. We've been thinking about this too literal, because the most obvious plan would be to hot wire a car and drive out of here, but we'd be stopped before we even hit the end of the city, and then the next thing we thought was walking there which is way too risky and we'd likely freeze before we get there. But it's like you said, we need to think outside of the box. So here's what I'm suggesting. What if we swim there?"

Kara's eyes popped wide after his proposition, not expecting that kind of answer.

"Wait, hear me out," he begged. "What if I get in touch with a fisherman and pay him into taking us to the other side?"

"Cayden, who in the right mind would help two deviants when associating with one is a serious offense that could take them to jail?"

"That's why we can stick with the old...." he hesitated, looking away for a moment in the fear his cheeks might betray him, because it had to be said; "with the married couple trick. And if they won't fall for that, then we'll tell them how we have a little girl on the other side waiting for us. We'll also tell them how we could only buy Alice's bus ticket before they sold out."

He didn't see her reaction, but he'd imagine it wasn't as pleasant as his.

"O-oh," she stuttered. "It... y-yeah, that could... that could work."

It was almost magical how awkward the room became, and Cayden immediately regretted saying anything about that, wishing he'd maybe gone with the distantly related route, but then again, the two of them physically had nothing in common. You'd have better luck trying to convince someone that a zebra and a hippo come from the same mother. Despite how edgy it made the two of them feel being far too personal about something Cayden was rather sensitive about, he knew it couldn't be done any other way. After clearing his throat to fix the tight atmosphere, he decided that this awkward silence was not going to fit the bill.

"So how far away is the dock from here?"

"About twenty minutes by foot," she instantly responded, a little too anxious to change the subject. "Since we're going to be dodging guards, probably longer."

"How much money can we spare?" he asked, and Kara pulled into her pocket and pulled out crumbled dollar bills for them to see.

"I've got seventy-two from Rose."

He cursed under his breath, immediately knowing that that wouldn't even be close to covering the cost of breaking the law. Before he knew it, he was on his feet again, pacing nervously.

"Seventy-two? That's not gonna be enough. We're asking someone to risk their lives for gas money. If we pull that much out of our pockets, they'd walk us up to the police themselves," he ranted anxiously.

"Cayden, stop," she ordered, and he reluctantly paused in his steps to look at her eyeing him suspiciously. "Is there something in your back pocket?"

He stared at her like she told him to jump off a cliff, not expecting to hear that of all things coming from her mouth.

"What?"

"In your back pocket, I can see a paper sticking out," she explained. "Is there any other plan I'm not hearing about?"

"What are you talking about?" he insisted, checking said pocket for the supposed paper. "There's no-"

He immediately froze when he did in fact feel a paper in his back pocket, unfamiliar with ever putting one back there; or any paper in general. A little more cautious with what he'd see, he slipped it out to find an envelope slipped shut, a little heavier than the common letter.

"What the hell?" he breathed.

"What is it?" Kara asked, any doubt gone as she most likely learned from his perplexed expression.

"I don't know."

A little more skittish than he'd admit, he slipped the envelope open, finding a white note inside. Digging two fingers, he pulled the piece out, unfolding the piece and reading the sloppily written message left for them.

_You probably wouldn't have accepted it if I offered. Don't be stupid and get out safe._

_-Hank_

_P.s.: grow a pair and get a date with Kara once you're there. The who-can-blush-the-brightest contest has gotta stop, I swear to God._

He couldn't help the chuckle in his voice. That sounded just like him, he thought with amusement. But the moment he opened the envelope wider, that small grin was smacked off his face as his face twisted into shock as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets like pinballs. Inside the letter was dollar bills lining by the HUNDREDS.

Cayden swore he was about to cry out in glee, not deciding if he wanted to sob or laugh.

"Cayden, what is it?" Kara demanded, desperate to see what the cause was for such a reaction.

"It's..." he said, pursing his lips to keep down the large cry of happiness, feeling his eyes water. "That bastard gave us money."

"What?!" She was on her feet in seconds, immediately looking inside (Cayden being sure to take out the note before she dug into it), and surely enough, a large and beautiful smile was on her face as she covered her mouth with both hands, hiding her mouth but not hiding the creases in her eyes and the diamonds of hope shining like stars in her irises.

"Oh my god.." she cried, her voice muffled. He dug into it to count it off, and once he had finished, he felt like the crying would come by itself.

"Seven hundred dollars," he breathed, his face hurting by how much he was smiling.

"Seven hundred?!" Kara cried, the hands dropping as she looked at Cayden with awe.

"That'll be more than enough to afford a trip," he beamed.

"Oh my god, Cayden!" she shrieked, immediately swinging her arms around his neck and crushing him tight. Cayden followed suit and nearly choked by how strong her grip was, high on a hope that he didn't know was possible for someone like him, but for the first time, that nagging voice telling him that he wouldn't make it had turned silent, and he found himself believing if not for a little while that things would actually be okay. He couldn't tell if Kara was crying or laughing, but he couldn't exactly blame her since he was only a few barriers away from joining her hysterical happiness, but deciding to keep relatively calm. His eyes met the roof above him, and though he knew there was no point, he just smiled like Hank could see him and mouthed the softest 'thank you' that even Kara couldn't hear.

"We're gonna be okay," she mumbled into his jacket, like it was a fact that hadn't been proven until that moment.

"We are," he at last admitted, hugging Kara tighter. "We really are."


	13. The Crabs

The empty streets of Detroit were even worse than he'd imagined. The call was made, and luckily enough, he did find a man who was willing to take that money off their hands. It was only a matter of meeting him by the docks twenty minutes out without attracting the guards who were common as ice in the freezer bin. Every street had three to five guards patrolling, their guns and flashlights poised to strike. The things they had to do to avoid being spotted looked so similar to something you'd find in a museum break-in movie, except there were far too many close calls than Cayden was comfortable with, and the only priceless item they were trying to smuggle was their own lives. Despite the situation, that same gleam in Kara's eyes that appeared the moment he pulled out the money from the envelope never faltered or died out, even when their thirium pumps nearly stop when a lucky guard sees the smallest flash of them, and they rush out of there before they get caught. It's seeing that she still believes in them that gave Cayden all the hope he needed to accept that their odds weren't in vain. They had a little girl waiting for them, and Cayden had chosen to lay everything on the table to make sure that two parents knock on Rose's door once they reach Canada.

It got hard to keep his mind doubt free whenever the guards spotted other androids about. It was hard when he heard the androids pleading for their lives only to get shot in the head or shipped off in a truck only god knows where. It was hard when they sounded so scared, and Cayden had to rely on Kara to shut out the flashbacks of a rotten mansion hiding years of anguish by a gentle hand on his shoulder when he turned too stiff and his breaths got too short. That attack scared him more than the one at Rose's house did because there was a terrifyingly high chance of his attack drawing unwanted attention. Her hand rubbed his back as they hid by the side of a car, Cayden gripping the door handle with a grip that made it dent like a soda can, surprised at how quiet the sound was as he desperately tried shutting out the sounds of android experiments wailing to live. By the time he blinked it away, they didn't have time to huff out a breath of relief before a guard got curious and searched the perimeter, making them race for it once again.

It was the longest twenty minutes of his life getting across that city, but it was worthwhile when they finally saw the docks, the river sparkling like glitter as ripples danced gracefully. Just the sight of it made him feel ten pounds lighter as he looked in the distance and saw the city on the other side of the river. Through the top of the trees on the other side, he had a perfect view of the tall buildings of Canada on the other side, so close that he felt that he could reach out and touch it if he tried hard enough.

All this hard work; all of the things they sacrificed to chase some dream that always seemed so far away. It felt so far away, and those few moments where he felt they were truly going to see it always slipped through his fingers before he could fully grasp it. But now he sees it. He truly sees that there was no endless cycle, no chasing a dream the same way a dog chases its tail. As he overlooked the border with a gleam in his eye, he knew that those risks they had taken together had been well spent. They really were going to escape this nightmare.

"Freedom is just across the river," Kara said in a trance, smiling faintly as her eyes were stuck on the buildings one river away. Cayden couldn't help but look at Kara as her blue orbs stared at the distance, smiling when he saw a sparkling shine in them that would make the sun itself jealous as she looked on in a contagious hope blazing brighter than bolts of lightning in a thunder storm. Her head was held high and her shoulders squared back, and Cayden knew she was absolutely confident in their chances. Her smile could melt Antarctica as she finally turned her head to meet Cayden's. No words were said as they bore into each others eyes, making entire conversations without saying a word. It was almost scary how well they've come to know each other in their short time together, like how he could analyze anything on Kara's face and he'd instantly know what she was thinking or how she felt about a certain topic once mentioned, and vice versa. By how they behaved, you'd have thought that they'd known each other for years, and not a few months, but then again, what difference did it make? They trusted each other, and that was all that mattered.

"Come on," he jerked his head towards the dock. "Staring at it won't get it any closer."

"Mr. and Mrs. Chapman?" a man on the wooden dock called out to them, his arms crossed on his figure. Hearing their false names was proof enough of this man's reasoning for being here, and they immediately raced to meet him. "God, I was starting to worry I fell for a prank call for a second there."

"We're sorry for the wait," Cayden apologized. "The city is more tight than it looks."

"Did anyone follow you?" the man insisted.

"No," Kara assured. "No, we're alone."

"Where's the money?"

Wordlessly, Cayden slipped out the envelope and handed it over, which the sailor immediately snatched away and took a few seconds to open it up so as to ensure there wasn't anything amiss. After a few silent seconds of tense quiet, waiting for the man to unexpectedly turn them down, there was a slight nod and the man turned his head up to meet the 'couple's eyes.

"Looks to be in order," the sailor said, and Cayden had to hold back the sigh of relief threatening to burst from his mouth. "This way, please."

He tried not to appear a little too desperate as he eagerly followed behind the thick coated fisherman, Kara remaining right by his side.

"I got a nice spot for you two in the back," he said. "As long as you don't raise your voice or do anything stupid, you should be fine. I'm risking everything in order to get you guys out of this mess, and I won't be held responsible if you get me into trouble."

"We understand," Kara spoke up. "We wouldn't want you to be."

"Well, here she is."

Passing through a small freighter, Cayden immediately noted the filthy fisherman boat that looked like it showered in rust and filth recently. He immediately decided that he probably should have waited before immediately accepting the fisherman's offer, because the filthy white boat looked like a rotting tub on the sea, but he decided that this was the worst time possible to be picky.

"This baby has served me well for nearly ten years," the fisherman said proudly, like a falling apart boat was something to feel pride for. "She's gotten me through thick and thin, so I'd imagine a small little river journey will do nothing to shake her. Go ahead and hop on inside, but don't touch anything."

As the sailer hopped into the boat and raced into the pilot room, Cayden took a few seconds to frown at the ship.

"Los Cangrejos'?" Kara wondered, reading aloud the fading name on the boat's bow, her face scrunching up yet again at the strange name. After a small search, it was easy to figure out what it meant, and his face immediately dropped, his eyes hooding in dry disgrace.

"The Crabs..." Cayden stated blandly, not impressed with the name. "We just paid 700 dollars..... for The Crabs."

"Hey," Kara patted his arm a bit. "It's seaworthy, it's quiet, and it'll get us to the other side. It could be worse."

"Of course it could. We could be trapped in a hellish city and be miles away from our little girl and be forced to rely on untrustworthy strangers... oh, wait."

That earned something that he wasn't sure would be a scoff or a chuckle, but Kara was quick to grab his arm and drag him to the boat, forcing him down in the back platform. And he couldn't help notice how the place looked even worse being inside the boat than it was being outside. Year-old trash, along with abandoned fish and crab corpses littered the platform, and for Kara's sake, he had to bite down another remark about how this guy needed to clean his boat. She didn't look like she enjoyed it either, but she kept her mouth shut and settled in, finding herself a nice spot next to Cayden on the railing as the boat rumbled as it finally started up ever so slowly.

"We're gonna have to go at a slow speed!" the fisherman called. "They'll have a better chance at spotting us if we rush through this."

Nodding in acknowledgement, and he stood back and watched as the docks went further and further away from their sight as the boat inched away.

The further along the river they went, the more he saw the city in front of his sight getting smaller and smaller, giving him a view of the harbinger of all the memories he's ever known, both good and bad, and oddly enough, he saw that it was a beautiful city. Despite everything happening inside of it, it was still shining bright, the buildings were still standing tall, the neon glow of the place was still vibrant. He was expecting fire and smoke for a place that may as well be the equivalent of hell from the fight, but it was shining like a diamond, and if they weren't currently escaping from it, he'd have never thought that it was tearing itself apart at the seams in the midst of a battle that would either save them or obliterate them. It looked so small from here, so insignificant and pointless, and he could have fooled himself to believe that there was no fight in the first place. But he knew better, and there was no better relief than seeing that the glazed over city of chaos getting farther and farther away from him.

The boat rocked in timing of the waves, and if not for his grip on the railing, he may have been tumbling like a tumbleweed due to the lack of sturdy ground. The smell of two-month old meat and human stench filled his nose, and he had to refrain from gagging to keep from spouting out an offering to the river. Instead, he kept his focus on the presence of the android who literally risked everything for him.

She was warm in a way that drew him close like a moth to a light. Just being beside her made his heart soar, and he hoped of all else that it wouldn't land itself on her palms, no matter how much he secretly wished it would. He could live one thousand years and never be nearly as strong as she was, and it amazed him how she could have the courage to face this hellish place longer so he himself could get out. As flattered as he was at the fact that she somehow saw him worth saving, he still couldn't get one thing out of his head no matter how hard he tried.

_ WHY? _

"Why did you come back?" Cayden finally spoke up, asking the question that had been nagging the back of his head since the moment he saw Kara kicking that bus' back door down. "You had your chance to get to Canada, but you gave it away for me. Why?"

That caught her attention, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Because you're Alice's father now," she shrugged, and he couldn't help the way the wind was knocked right out of his artificial lungs at the name.

"But besides that," he continued. "Am I only coming along with you because Alice likes me?"

"Cayden, what kind of ridiculous question is that?"

"All I'm saying is that all I've heard you say when it came to why you came back is Alice. Am I just a tool for her happiness?"

"Cayden, stop it," Kara warned. "You know that's not true."

"Then give me an honest reason why you're risking your life for me if not for Alice's sake."

Kara acted a little unprepared for the question given the way her eyes grew a little bit, her grey irises wandering between Cayden and her arms on the railing, somehow not able to look him in the eye. That caught him off guard more than anything else given she had the bravery and pride of a lioness and could make Freddy Krueger himself drop to his knees and beg for mercy with a single icy glare. The longer she hesitated to answer, the more he felt his gut sinking into the river below him in hurt.

**Of course she never cared**, his mind sneered. **What stupid thought made you think she did?**

He turned his head to meet the small waves below him: shame, hurt, guilt, and disappointment swirling in his mind like a whirlpool, a knife lodged in his throat that rattled his voice pipe after every swallow. He could have sworn that Zlatko was digging into his bio components all over again, because the pain was so eerily similar that it was uncanny. There was a sting in the back of his ocular components, but he forced them back, because there was no way that Cayden would ever want to cry in front of Kara.

He's been in pain in front of her, he's been treated by her, he's had breakdowns in front of her, but he has never once cried, and if he had his way, that was one thing that would never happen. He's already been humiliated enough, and Kara has had to put up with his weakness long enough now that he knows that all he was doing was inconveniencing her. Even when that small voice in his head hoped that she hadn't minded it. That maybe she didn't mind taking care of him when he was too weak to do it himself.

Regardless of how hurt he felt, he couldn't bring himself to be angry at her because of it. Cayden would have done the same thing to himself given the choice, but it didn't make the pain of abandonment any easier to handle.

"I..." she said hesitantly. "I can't tell you why."

He saw her moving out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't turn to look, too caught up in her words and his own poisonous mind to pay attention. But when he felt her bare hand rest on top of his own, that was what snapped him back into reality, curiously looking at Kara who appeared far too nervous than he'd like, but she still held herself up and was able to look right into his eyes.

"But I can show you. If you'll let me."

Instantly, he knew what she was referring to, and he couldn't help but feel reluctant. If he accepted the offer, then that would mean that Kara would see every excruciating detail of his torture, and he wasn't sure if he wanted Kara seeing that with her own eyes.

"It's your choice," she assured him gently. "I won't pressure you."

He switched between looking at Kara's nervous face and her small hand on top of his, heavily thinking through both options. He really wanted to know more about her, but he was still so scared about what she'd find out about him. The thought of her digging through every memory he ever possessed like a movie sounded terrifying. Sure, he had already done so with Connor, but he didn't have any say in that moment, but now that he did, he found it to be a rather hard choice to choose. Despite what he thought, her expression was soft and trusting, and it made his armor chip away piece by piece. And as he saw that she was perfectly okay with this, he took a deep breath and braced himself as he made his choice. The skin on his hand retracted to show his plasmic white shell, and he found himself slowly twisting his hand until his fingers could clasp around hers, quickly looking in her eyes as her face remained impassive but her eyes leaked levels of gratitude and fear as her own skin faded away, tightening her grip on his hand.

"Are you sure?" she confirmed, and he knew that there would be no going back from here. Despite the temptation to chicken out and escape now while he had the chance, he knew that they both needed this no matter how terrifying it was.

"I'm sure," he confirmed, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

Still slightly afraid, she nodded lightly, and he watched as their entwined hands began to glow a summer sky blue, their palms and the pads of their fingers glowing like fireflies in the night. That same familiar feeling of something heavy crawled through his wires, and he let his eyes close as the white flash returned once more, burying his vision.

He could see Kara being displayed on a circular platform in what appeared to be an android store, only staring and observing as people looked at her, some in dirtier ways that made him want to bury her in a thick jacket and bark at them to keep their sick minds to themselves. He saw Alice's father giving him Kara's name and bringing her to this pathetic excuse of a home that could compete with Zlatko's by how badly treated it was. An entire year of blindly taking orders and lifelessly trying to get better acquainted with little Alice who avoided her like the plague. Until one day Todd hit his little girl and threatened to kill her when Cayden felt Kara finally choosing that she had enough. He saw a very scared but determined Kara fight her way out of Todd's home with little Alice in tow and into a bus, and yet again, he was blown away by how brave she was. _At least_ **_she_**_ fought back from her problems_, his unhealthy mind reminded him in disdain. He saw this damaged android who was severely damaged attempting to make Alice a dead rat and that same day holding back a cop so they could escape. He saw the highway and nearly had a heart attack when Kara was grabbed, but they both made it out okay. At least now he knew why Connor felt bad about that day, because he could feel Kara's terror when a lifeless Connor raced through the highway like it was nothing, jumping and sliding over speeding cars with ease and quickly catching up to the two girls who were scrambling for every car. Connor's choice in attempting to restrain her nearly cost them her life, but she pushed him away just in enough time to avoid the semi truck coming their way. 

Then Zlatko's house came up, and Cayden nearly sent himself into a downwards spiral in seeing a place that seemed to have originated from hell. He could see the black and rainy sky above him that seemed to add more into the pitch black atmosphere of Zlatko's house where the sun never shined or light could never prosper. His heart nearly stopped in fright, seeing that sick monster again, noting the seeming invisible spark of madness in his eye no matter how trustworthy he made himself to appear welcoming. He saw them lead him into the basement, saying he was going to help 'remove their tracker'. He saw Kara being hooked up to that wretched machine and saw it when he began attempting to erase her memory, dragging Alice away when she bit him in attempt to free himself. Then there was Kara. Just like he knew her, she fought with everything she had to remove herself from that claw, using the surroundings in ways he'd have never thought of to break herself free just in time before her memory wipe and only clicking to one thing as she finally repaired the flaw in her system. **Alice**.

And then he saw himself. It was strange seeing his own face from a different point of view, looking so damaged and hopeless, but he saw how truly caring he looked as he told them how to escape. Seeing how he looked at his worst, he understood why Alice was so scared of him when they first met, because he truly did look like a monster. He looked like a demon, unrecognizable to what he had become now, coated in filth and thirium and mangled until he was barely a human figure. He saw himself on that table as Kara treated his wounds, his newly repaired eyes far away as he grit his teeth when she pressed too hard. Then there was the Chapman Household, where Kara was sitting on the edge of the bed as Cayden was gasping and twitching in low power mode, smiling lightly to herself as she dug her fingers into his hair, and after a short pause, he saw how his entire body turned limp after a breath that sounded like a sigh.

He saw her doing that for a good hour at least, and he was shocked to find that Kara's heart had been pounding, almost identical to the way his would just by looking at her. As it turns out, she was just as confused as to this new feeling as Cayden himself was, and she had also been wondering if something was wrong in her system. And to think it only got stronger from there as he saw their performance as a couple to fool the cop and the warmth of family when they all grouped togetherin a hug before the Jericho raid. There was comfort as he saw himself being pinned by Sumo and laughing light heartedly as he slobbered in his mouth.

The most heart wrenching moment was Kara driving away from the station, never once looking away from Cayden's own figure looking so defeated as she drove further away, and thinking one small word that would change it all: **No**.

He felt Kara spring to action as she shouted for the bus driver to stop, begging Rose to protect Alice as she slammed the back door open and raced back to a furious Cayden. And he realized that she had discovered what that unnamed emotion was at long last, and it was at that moment where they disconnected from each other's systems.

**LOVE**.

Opening his eyes again, he found himself looking at Kara who looked head over heels at what she'd seen, eyes wide with a large variety of feelings. Obviously what she saw terrified her, but she also looked lighter, like the weight of a hundred questions had been lifted from her shoulders. The way she looked at him was so different now that she had seen everything. Instead of looking at him in pity, like he was <strike>dreading</strike> expecting, she instead only stared at him with..... awe?

He was pulled into a hug, and he decided to indulge her by hugging tight, nearly all of his doubts and fears wiped away now that he had a clear answer. And the question that had been nagging at the back of his head since the repair center had finally been answered.

It was love all along.

Cayden was in love with Kara.

"Kara, I'm.." he said.

"If you say sorry one more time, I swear I'm going to slap you again," she threatened with no real heat. So he stayed quiet, curling his face into the crease between her shoulder and her neck. That same warmth he always felt had become a deadly flame in his soul now, so hot he felt like it would rip him apart if he let it be.

God, was he terrified. Suddenly it was happening, and suddenly Kara knew exactly what he felt for her, and he knew what she did.

"You were wrong," she told him with a thick voice. "What you said to Connor."

He was too nervous to say anything, so he just let her continue as she unwrapped to look him straight in the eye, something he felt too scared and slightly ashamed to do.

"Cayden, look at me," she ordered, and it surprised him when he felt her hand on his jaw and steered his head upwards to meet hers once again, and the amount of affection pouring out of her eyes nearly knocked him off of his feet.

"I don't need someone who lifts mountains, okay?" she said. "I don't because I already have someone who carries the world on his shoulders."

His gut flipped like a pancake at the sudden words that slammed into him with the strength of a sledgehammer. Kara's smile lit up the night, and he swore that he was staring at the surface of the sun.

"As for that 'poor excuse of a heart', that happens to be the most beautiful thing in the world to me, and if you're willing, that's all I'd ever want from you."

He nearly choked on the water building at the back of his throat, and those hidden tears only got worse, but he gave every possible strength into keeping them out of her sight.

"So.... um," he stuttered, you know, like an idiot. "Do we need to.. I-I don't know.. say it?"

That earned a beautiful laugh from her, but she answered anyway.

"If you want to make it official," she chuckled.

"Would.... w-would you like to maybe-"

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!"

Immediately they both jumped at the sound, staring at the fisherman like deer in headlights. He was expecting a cringe about the sudden behavior since he learned that public affection was considered irritating to others, but instead the man was staring at something lower than their faces, and as Cayden followed his sights, he immediately felt his breath catch in his throat as the paralyzing fright spread through his body like icy, liquid metal.

He'd forgotten to put his synthetic skin back over his hand.

The fisherman was staring right at the plasmic white skin in horror.

Despite the fact that he could hear his thirium pump pounding and the fact that his breaths were beginning to pick up again, he tried taking control of the situation, hoping to god that this was one of the good people Hank was talking about by slowly raising his hands in peace.

"Sir, I can explain-"

He didn't even finish by the time he'd bolted, racing for the captain's cabin.

"WAIT!" he called, immediately sprinted to beat him. It wasn't hard since he was apparently designed for speed and easily tackled the man to the floorboards, picking him up and slamming him onto the walls to hold him steady no matter how much he squirmed.

"HELP ME!" the man squawked.

"Hey, stop," he snapped, immediately covering the man's mouth with his hand. "Just listen!"

His fearful responses were muffled by his hand, and he didn't even bother letting him talk.

"Just shut up and hear us out," he hissed, keeping quiet in case anyone else was nearby. "We don't want any trouble, okay? All we want is to get to the border without being shot in the back."

The man still muffled his responses, eyes wide as an owl's as he stared at Cayden like he was a devil.

"We may not have been very honest with you," Kara spoke up, and Cayden let her talk since she had her way with words. "But we weren't lying when we told you why we needed to cross. There really is a little girl waiting for us on the other side."

Holding out her palm, she opened a floating picture of little Alice, and he couldn't afford to look at it in risk of losing his grip over the slippery fisherman.

"All we need is to cross this river and you will never have to hear from us again," she promised. "We gave you your money. If we wanted to hurt you, we wouldn't have bothered paying you."

That caused the man to still his movements if not for a little bit, but he still looked scared.

"Think about it this way," Cayden continued for her. "Say guards do come this way and do end up shooting me and Kara. What do you think they'll do when they find a human harboring two deviants on his boat during CURFEW, huh? That's illegal immigration along with harboring 'criminals' as you've come to call us. The illegal immigration by itself is 6 months to 2 years in prison and a fine that would make our check look like pocket money, and that's only if your record is clean. I wonder how much they'll add to that with two deviants found on board."

That definitely made him pay attention when he heard money, and he immediately felt sickened by it.

"So go ahead. Scream all you want. You'd be saying goodbye to this precious boat and the money and everything you can call your own because you couldn't cross two deviants a few more kilometers who only want to buy a house and live like regular people and not the monsters your kind seem to believe we are."

He stopped squirming, but he knew he wasn't ready to be let go just yet.

"So this is what we're gonna do," he said. "I'm going to remove my hand from your mouth, and if you make another peep, I'll hit a pressure point that'll knock you right out and you'll be waking up in the cabin's quarters tomorrow morning in the middle of the river. Whether soldiers find you before you wake up or not, I really don't care, because we'll be long gone by the time they do. Or you can make the smart decision and keep your mouth shut and not lose your precious Crabs or your fat check. One way or another, we're going to Canada. It's all up to you what you walk away with."

The man stopped moving, but he didn't remove his grip pinning him to the wall, though he did decide to loosen up with the one holding his mouth. And once he stayed silent enough, he kept his word and slowly peeled his hand away, relieved to find he'd quieted down.

"Smart choice."

He should have predicted that someone so selfish wouldn't give in that easily. He learned that the hard way when the man suddenly used his knee to slam right into Cayden's gut, and he cried out a loud curse as he involuntarily lost grip and was thrown back.

"PLASTIC PRICK!!"

"Cayden!" Kara cried.

"Stay put," Cayden growled, immediately getting on his feet and ignoring the sting in his stomach as he saw the dickhead running for it, and immediately he saw red. "I won't be long."

"Cayden, no-"

He'd already whizzed past her, quickly catching up with the idiot before he could get inside the room, fisting his jacket and yanking him back onto the wall.

"Terrible mistake, asshole!" he roared in fury, letting his adrenaline take over as he let his instincts take over when the fisherman made futile attempts at fighting back.

"Cayden, stop!" Kara tried, pointlessly trying to break up the fight, but Cayden was locked onto his target, and it was near impossible to snap him out of it. They kept fighting and fighting, the fisherman getting more tired by the second by trying to hit Cayden who might as well have been the Flash himself compared to the plump sailor. He knew he made a mistake when he felt Kara forcefully pushing herself between the two in an attempt to stop it, but as if he couldn't get any crazier, the man was cruel enough to slam his foot into Kara's core, and Cayden felt like his soul left his body when she cried out in fear as she was thrown off the boat. And into the below 0 river that was fatal for androids.

"KARA!!" he screamed, immediately forgetting thegreedy fisherman as he dropped the man and leaped off after her, immediately seeing her sinking figure from the pitch black water. Shrugging off his jacket and leaving the plaid shirt, he didn't hesitate for a single second to dive in after her, willingly submitting himself to the agony that is freezing cold water that dug into his skin like icy leeches.

He almost screamed all the oxygen he could spare by how agonizingly painful the water was, but he didn't let it slow him down as he tread deeper and deeper into the river, desperately following Kara who he could see was also trying to claw her way to the surface. Every movement was needles that sunk into his artificial muscles, and the blaring warning in his head beeping annoyingly that he was losing temperature at a dangerous level. He only pushed the notification away and kept going in deeper. The lower down he went, the harder it was to see Kara's blurry frame, and his oxygen was already depleting severely and making his temperature drop even faster than it already was, but he refused to get back up until he had Kara with him. He'd almost lost her too many times. No way in hell was he giving up on her now when they were so close.

He saw the synthetic skin in his hands start to fade as he began to look paler the colder he became. He could barely see at all now, and the loss of air was becoming more and more of a nuisance as his oxygen regulator begged for breath. But it was all worth it when he felt fingers brush against his own outstretched ones, and he saw with a heavy heart that they had reached the bottom of the river given Kara's feet were planted on the sands. He only let himself sink so he could wrap Kara's body into a one armed hug and launch his way back to the surface.

He clawed the water like a dying man with no legs on the battlefield, fighting against the growing numbness on his body dragging him down. He fought to keep his arm wrapped around Kara and to hold on just until they made it to the surface. Every second in the water was a second of life, so he kept fighting his way up. Never had he felt better than when he saw the shimmering of the surface, and he lunged them both through.

This time it didn't feel forced as he rasped for air and coughed the water out of his system, Kara weakly doing the same.

"It's... it's-s okay, K-Kara," he wheezed, his teeth chattering involuntarily. "I g-got you."

He turned them both to face the ship in an attempt to get out of the water, only to find.... that it was sailing away, back to the docks of Detroit.

His hopes sunk deeper than they did during the dive, and he immediately found himself wondering how this could have gone wrong. They were right there, he thought hopelessly, and they were going to die. Right here, right now, they were going to sink into the water like some cheesy Romeo and Juliet meets Titanic tale. He couldn't tell if Kara was crying or if she was shivering, but either way made him bring her closer, wishing there was some way to pass all of the warmth he could offer to her freezing body.

"I'm s-s-sorry.." he sputtered tearily. "T-this-s-s 's my f-f-fault..."

There was an ear-splitting honk of a boat, and he found that there was a boat stopping right in front of them, and he could have sworn this was an overdue miracle he was waiting for. So he forced his nearly useless legs to reach the boat at all costs, holding onto Kara who weakly tried to help but wasn't faring much better than he was. There was that same numbness building up in his eyes, but he only forced them wider, knowing that he could NOT fall asleep, or at the very least, not until the android in his arms was out of the water. He nearly bumped into the black vessel before there were hands clawing him and Kara out of the water. By the time his torso was out of the water, he dropped all control like his components turned into the heaviest metal known to man, turning limp as a doll and helpless to the hands dragging him onto the boat and plopping him on the ground. Through hooded eyes, he could see through misty eyesight that Kara was safe. Just as weak as he was, but she was still alive. He tried lifting his head to thank their rescuers as best he could, but he was losing his battle for energy fast. All he could see were grey helmeted men and women grabbing the two of them before his eyes closed on their own accord, and he knew no more.


	14. The Beginning of the End

Coming back to was a very very slow process. He felt like concrete bricks were strapped to every limb in his body by how heavy he felt. But waking up heavy would always be better than not waking up at all. It was hard work getting the energy needed just to pry his eyes open, and the first thing he noticed was white and red blurring together. Things were moving and sounds were slowly becoming more clear, sounding a little something like machinery whirring and thumping footsteps muted by soft crunching snow. The more aware he became, the more he realized that he was in a sitting up position, his head resting on some fence while his back was being propped up by something clearly alive since it moved and breathed in a way no dead machine could. Then he found himself noting how the back he was leaning against was rather heated, or warmed up to a level that must have brought his temperature back to a non lethal degree. Through the haze remaining in his mind, he was able to mumble out the softest of words.

"K'ra...." he slurred slightly.

"No," an unfamiliar voice spoke up, and he immediately tensed in shock. "I am not the android you arrived with."

Despite having sluggish limbs, his head was able to move a little more freely, so he dragged it to look over his shoulder, and he swore that if he had the ability, he might have kicked away in fright. A female android, her face disconnected from the rest of her head like an unlatched hood on a car, wires poking out through the black cracks. Her eyes glowed an all too familiar lava orange in damage, and she had absolutely no synthetic skin, and was instead a white humanoid shell if not for the severe burns around her bare collarbones and chest. A small part of him wondered if maybe he'd seen this android before, but he hadn't seen a lot of broken androids recently. The android sneered, but since she didn't look like she was insulting him, he supposed that she was trying to smile.

"It is good to see you again, old friend."

He frowned at her slightly, not sure if he could see it before. "I don't know you."

"Not personally, no," the woman agreed. "I can't blame you for not recognizing me. After all, I'm not screaming."

All it took was that final word for it all to click together in understanding, and his stomach twisted itself into a knot.

"Zlatko," he gasped. "You were one of his..."

"Subjects?" she finished. "As were you."

He couldn't help the shocked breath that escaped his mouth, not expecting to have an old cellmate be the first face he woke up to. It may have been strange that he was so relieved seeing someone he never even talked to before, but it felt like seeing an old friend after so long. After all, they were practically the same person from their shared experience of the metal table that very few people had the unlucky chance of seeing in person.

"What..." he breathed. "What are you doing here? Where are the others? What happened?"

"The soldiers raided the mansion," the scarred android answered grimly. "When they saw what he made us, they opened fire... I was the only one they kept alive. Everyone else... my friends.."

His heart sunk at the news, imagining all those people he anonymously tried so hard to protect being slaughtered thoughtlessly. Just thinking of all those tortured victims being shot down without a second glance made him want to shed tears or punch something. They all deserved better than being killed over another man's actions.

"I'm sorry," he sympathized. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It is thanks to you that we lasted longer together," she said. "I know you took the effort to take more of the burden on yourself for two years to protect us, and you helped us take down that monster once and for all. Though it proved to be futile in the end, I gained memories that I will always treasure in my short moment of freedom, and I have you to thank for them."

"Where are we?" he wondered. "What is going on?"

"You are in the recall center," the android said. "But we call it the Doorway to RA9."

"RA9?" he puzzled. "What do you-"

He paused mid sentence as it dawned on him. "They're killing us off, aren't they?"

The fact that she didn't respond was answer enough, and soon enough he was on his slow feet, truly looking around him for the first time. White metal bar fences lined the area, blaring red and white lights beaming down on them, heavy snow falling from the roofless sky above them. And inside the prison of fence, the sight made his thirium pump leap into his throat. Hundreds of motionless androids with receded skin in perfect lines, waiting blankly for their deaths.

Cayden's breaths were getting choppier the more he looked, realizing that they were currently in the belly of the beast, and it only made it worse when he saw that he was just as bare as them, his thirium pump pounding in his ears and his air levels getting shorter as he looked at his hands and saw the same pristine white as all the androids in this place. Those same bare hands met his head, and he found there was no humanlike skin to meet his touch, nor messy hair to run through his fingers, no eyebrows or lashes. As far as anyone was concerned, he was only a walking mannequin. And if he weren't anxiety riddled enough, he found a certain android who wasn't by his side, and that same panic button was smashed to pieces as he started getting hysteric.

"Kara?!" he called out, hoping that at least one would respond to the name. Last he saw her, she was lying right there beside him when they were being 'rescued'. He just hoped that they hadn't done anything to her yet, because the thought of losing her now of all times.... it only made his desperation deepen.

"KARA!!" he screamed, interrupted by a hand on his shoulder backing him up, seeing the scarred android pulling him back.

"Cayden, you must not speak," she ordered. "Youare following the steps of the former android who had done the same thing."

"We were in the river together," he ranted breathlessly. "We were picked up by patrol but she was right there next to me. Where is she?"

"They always separate the ones who arrive together," she explained. "It would be realistic if she were in another isle."

"Another isle?" he panted. "I need to get to her. Please, you must understand, she's.... she's the only reason I got out of that place alive, and if something happens to her....."

There was no change in the damaged android's expression, but somehow he knew she understood. Probably better than anyone he ever knew, and better than anyone he'll ever meet again.

"There is another region connected to this one," she said. "We can see if perhaps she is in there, but we must be cautious. Most of the soldiers in here are very sloppy as to who dies in what way."

He nodded his head, making sure she knew just how thankful he was. He let the android take the lead, following right behind her as he was led through this cattle farm of destruction. The hundreds of passive faces were rather unnerving, to be honest. Seeing all of these people with blank faces not seeming to care that their lives were about to end was terrifying, because at least with the Jericho raid, it felt alive. The fear radiated off the air like poisonous gas, but in here.... other than the few wandering deviants, it just felt empty. Like they really were cleaning up only faulty machines. It was hard keeping away from the apparently trigger-happy soldiers, but thanks to the scarred android, they were able to slip by without someone pointing a machine gun at their heads.

"So..." Cayden started as they walked, "do you have a name I could call you?"

"I have no need for one," she said plainly.

"It just doesn't feel right calling you by your model number."

"The only time you need a name is if you have friends you need to distinguish from. I am alone, and therefore I need no name."

"You don't have to be," he insisted. "Alone, I mean."

"It is not a choice," the scarred android stated. "The world has no place for a creature like me."

"That's exactly what I used to think," Cayden confessed. "I remember the first day on my journey with Kara and Alice, and I remember feeling so out of place in this perfect family, and I always tried to push myself away whenever they tried to bring me closer because I was scared I'd ruin them. But the more I pushed away, I realized that it wasn't just me I was hurting. Despite everything that happened and everything I've done, I have a family now. A family who I would give my life for and one who would give theirs for mine. If I of all people can find happiness, I know you can, too."

She didn't immediately respond, so he took that as a good sign that maybe he got to her a little bit, because in a way, he truly did care for her in his own strange way despite this being their first true introduction. And he knew that seeing another of Zlatko's victims achieve happiness from such a heinous tragedy would make him feel a little more at peace, for himself and his past.

"Perhaps," is all she said.

A large gate was ahead, and after receiving a confirming nod telling him that this was the place, he raced towards it, immediately gripping the bars.

"Kara?!" he called out. "Kara, are you in there?!"

There was silence at the other end, and the longer the quiet, the worse the dread.

"Kara!"

Someone did show up, but it wasn't her. Instead it was this somehow sprightly android who seemed way too joyous for being stuck in a death trap, and a part of him thought that he'd seen that face before.

"Is.." the android said. "Is that you, Cayden?"

"Wait, wait..." he frowned. "You... you're one of the androids from the amusement park."

"Yes, it is us, Jerry!" he cheered. "How wonderful to see you on your feet!"

"Jerry, I need to ask you something," he said, and the android leaned in like he was about to discover the whereabouts of some secret pirate treasure. "Have you seen Kara at all?"

"Oh, yes, Kara!" the android danced. "Yes, she is a very nice lady."

"Jerry," he begged. "I need to see her. Could you bring her here if you can?"

"Of course we can," Jerry cried. "We would be delighted to have a part in your joyous reunion!"

"Be careful," he warned. Like a little child, that android actually SKIPPED away, like he was just strolling through the park instead of the maze of soulless bodies awaiting their death. He just hoped that he didn't make a mistake, but for crying out loud, Kara was in there, and any moment now, she'd be right in front of him. He gripped the bars in anticipation, eyes scanning the area Jerry disappeared in and waiting to see her coming through, hoping for any sign that he wasn't too late. Every second was agony, and if he had to wait any longer, he swore he was going to crush the bars in his fists, feeling light headed in worry. God, how could this happen? he questioned. They had been right there, only a few meters away from the other side, but he had to blow it and now they were trapped in an android concentration camp.

"You truly do care about her," the scarred android noted, a hint of astonishment in her glitchy tone.

"I can't live without her...."

He couldn't wait for her response given there was a giddy android hopping their way back, excitedly gesturing a 'hurry up' behind him. All it took was a fraction of a second before he spotted another figure coming his way. And even without all of the features he had come to know and love, she was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Kara!" he cried out, and he saw the way her same grey eyes shined in relief as she raced as fast as she could for her slight limp from the gunshot in Jericho.

"Cayden!"

She full on slammed against the bars, and he was so thankful that there was a wide enough distance to sneak his arms through, because the minute she was in range, he slid his limbs through to give her the best hug he could offer through the bars.

It was slightly awkward holding Kara and a bar at the same time, but he was too high on joy and relief to notice. But soon enough he was more concerned about her condition than her presence, so he quickly unwrapped and let his hands rest on her arms.

"Are you okay?" he insisted, looking her over. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, I'm okay," she assured.

"God, I'm sorry," Cayden found himself babbling. "This is my fault, and I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Kara immediately turned his train of thought down. Despite everything, he found himself losing the smallest ounce of tension when she smirked at him "But we are working on your temper when we get out of this."

He couldn't help the light chuckle that escaped his mouth, finding himself agreeing with her decision. Then he found himself recognizing that she said 'when'. Not 'if', but when, as she looked absolutely confident that they were going to make it out, and that gave Cayden that same small spark of hope. It helped a great amount having someone who always saw the bright side with him, and he imagined that every moment with Kara made him feel like a better person than he was.

"I know you," Kara spoke up, but instead she was looking at the scarred android who was a respectable distance away to give them their uninterrupted moment, her eyes alight with recognition.

"And I you," the android said. "I wish we could have met properly under different circumstances, but it is good to see you both again."

"We're gonna get out of here," Cayden promised, turning his head to be sure he included her. "All of us."

He caught how the android closed in on herself slightly, but it was hard for even an android to detect, but he saw it nonetheless.

"We need to figure something out," he said, acknowledging their situation. "Did you notice any weak spots in your section that could be helpful as an escape?"

"Not really," she admitted. "This place is locked tight, but there's not as many guards as I thought. Maybe there's a chip in the armor that we could slip through when no one is looking."

"This place looks scary, but I can already tell it was created in a rush. That means that there's bound to be a few mistakes they haven't noticed yet. All we need to do is find one and take our chance once they're not looking."

"You must hurry," the scarred android spoke up. "The deviants who wander most are the ones they focus on."

Surely enough, when he did look around, he did see a lot of the soldiers' heads turned their direction, and it made dread build up in his core.

"We can't risk this," Kara spoke up quietly.

"I'm not leaving you here alone," Cayden immediately refused.

"I don't like it either, but if we stick together like this, it'll decrease our chances of being able to get out without attracting attention."

"Kara, I can't leave you here," Cayden pleaded, "I'm not doing that."

"We're still in range," Kara assured him. "You'll still be able to talk to me, and I have Jerry here with me. I'll be alright, I promise."

"It is the best option," added in the woman.

He knew that they were right, but that didn't stop the feeling of his bio components being crushed like soda cans, wishing there was any other way to get them both out. He didn't want her to separate, because what if something would happen? What if one of those trigger-happy guards shot her for being too suspicious? He didn't want to think about the thought of her connection being cut off mid sentence while Cayden was stuck in another isle with no ability to help her. That was his greatest fear, and he'd never be able to live with himself if something happened to her somewhere he couldn't go.

"Cayden, stop it," Kara interrupted his thoughts.

"Stop what?"

"I know that look. You're overthinking this. I'll be fine, I promise.”

“Kara, we are standing on Death’s door,” he exclaimed. “You can’t promise anything. What if... I can’t... you can’t ask me to-“

He might have had the option to finish his statement before Kara’s hand gripped the nape of his neck and he was being pulled down to her level, and nothing in the world could have prepared him for the fact that Kara would dive in for a kiss because he froze like an old computer, eyes wider than dinner plates as he felt Kara’s lips on his own.

Did he just die? he wondered as he stared wide eyed at nothing in particular. Because he could have sworn that his heart had altogether stopped beating. right now he went entirely stiff with shock, his system suddenly slow and sluggish like gears coated with the world's stickiest bubble gum. Did she just....

Without warning, that same little flame he'd always see when he looked at her too long had become a full on bonfire, and he nearly melted by its strength. It buried him head to toe as he finally forced his foggy brain to work, now feeling her lips on his own as the shock of it faded away, having the ability to actually acknowledge the kiss. They were soft as a feather, and though it was gentle and nervous, it had the strength of a thousand men and the hope of a single rose peering through the ashes of ruin. He was in awe, his brain that was far more advanced than any other living thing on earth slowed enough to make a sloth look like a track champion in comparison. It was calming, yet it sent sparks of electricity through his wires like blood. Everything felt clear but it also blended everything together until he couldn’t recognize anything at all. He was calm but erratic, he was afraid but also fearless, he was strong but also weak, he was fixed as well as broken. Cayden was everything and nothing at the same time, and never once could he have imagined what this would have felt like.

She slowly pulled back, looking Cayden in his perplexed eyes with a sincerity so strong it nearly wiped him out like a rogue wave. The hand at the back of his neck hadn't moved, and he truly wished that she wouldn't, because he had never felt as grounded as he had in that moment. A little strange saying that when they're a good few yards away from dying a horrifying and depressing death.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him softly, never once breaking eye contact, making him feel entrapped in an unbreakable spell that he couldn't(and wouldn't) snap out of.

"With my life."

He saw Kara smiling lightly by the absolute certainty in the tone as he said those three words, and he had to remind himself to make her smile more often once they got out of this. He chose not to think about how he was getting better at thinking positive instead of immediately giving up like he was used to. But what could he say? That's what happens when you have someone like Kara by your side.

There was an annoying bussing noise and a bright light unexpectedly being flashed from above them, and he had to break away from their stare to follow the noise, only seeing a flying drone above them, shining its light at them in a way that made the two of them look like they were going to start some romantic duo in a theater. A part of him wanted to smirk at Kara and start singing 'Love is an Open Door' just to make her laugh, but he decided that it could wait for when they weren't about to die. (You have no idea how long it took for Cayden to be able to openly reference things. The poor guy had taken one morning to research literally everything pop culture out of plain curiosity. Probably not the best use of his free time, but who knows: he might need it later.)

"Alright," he finally caved, looking back to Kara. "You need to stay in contact with me, got it?"

"I got it."

Just as the guards started stomping his way, he had to force himself to let Kara go and try not to call out for her to come back when she disappeared into the line of androids. Instead he steeled himself when he spotted an army soldier marching towards him, his gun low but more than ready to shoot if necessary.

"Get back in line, android!" he ordered through an electric voice.

Deciding that this was no time for heroics, he reluctantly did what he was told, letting the scarred android drag him back to the neat rows of motionless people waiting for death.

"Do you see the blue crates over there?" the android asked, nodding towards the large boxes in the adjoined center ahead of them. As he looked, he noted that there was mechanical wiring coming from over there. When he glared through the metal gate, he could see the crates opening and noting androids walking inside, yet when they walked in, they never came back out. His artificial stomach felt sick with dread.

"That is where they will be sending all of us," she said grimly.

"Then we need to get out of here before we're next," he said quietly.

"Why must you keep saying 'we'?" the android asked.

"Because you're coming with us," he said.

"I cannot join you," the android told him. "As I have told you, the world has no place for something like me."

"But it does," Cayden insisted. "You only think that because you've only seen one side of it, and that's the side Zlatko forced you to see. If you went through anything similar to me, you know he told you at least ten times a day that the world outside of his mansion wasn't any better. But he was wrong. Every single word was wrong."

"But was he?" the scarred android demanded. "We are being slaughtered like animals, and yet here you are telling me that this world is somehow perfect? After everything you've seen?"

"It's not perfect," Cayden agreed, "and it never will be, but just because it has mistakes doesn't mean it's hopeless. It's this world that gave me a brother and a human who might as well be a father to me, and it's this world that gave you that chance with your friends. You've seen enough of the bad, but let me give you a chance to show you the good."

"I HAVE seen the good," she pressed. "I've seen a couple and their two children buying an android and treating it as their own. I've seen an android feel proud to call itself family. I remember holding an infant in my arms, and I remember feeling happy. Truly happy. And then I see the bad. I see the signs in the mother before anyone else does and notify the hospital. Two months later, the mother is lying in a hospital bed with stage one brain cancer.

"Then I see the father falling into a great depression, drinking alcohol and smoking red ice instead of caring for his children. I see the father becoming aggressive after the mother's death, beating the children for the smallest and weakest excuses. I remember being forced to stand back and let them hurt the brother and his little sister and wordlessly treating them in the aftermath."

Cayden stood there wordless, his full attention on the android beside him on the line, letting her finish her story. Her orange eyes were stuck on the head of the android in front of her, but he knew she wasn't seeing it herself given the far away look in her eyes, her body an empty shell as her mind wandered through her memories.

"Then two years later, the father signs up for drug recovery. I don't know what made him change his ways, but slowly he begins to get better. He gets kinder, more patient, doesn't race for the nearest bottle when he gets angry. He looks to be repairing himself for the first time. Slowly, we become a family again. He attends the brother's school assemblies and tends to the infant himself instead of relying on me to do it. A few times, I actually see him smile again. We are happy, and I begin to think that life has given me the worst it had to offer. But then..."

He chose not to notice the way the android's voice trembled slightly at the last part. Everything else in the world didn't seem to exist as he listened to the scarred android's story, already knowing that there wasn't going to be a good ending. After a few seconds to compose herself, the android continued with a steady voice and stone face.

"We are walking away from an enjoyable dinner at a four star aquarium when a man shows up with a gun, ordering us to empty our pockets. The father indulges him, and I begin to believe that we may be alright before the infant in my arms gives a loud shriek. It scares the thief, and he pulls the trigger, and the father falls dead. The brother is screaming at his corpse, begging him to wake up. Then the bandit notices me, and perhaps he believes I would have attempted to call the police, so he tries to shoot me instead. Maybe that man never shot a gun in his life, because he shoots something much more valuable than a useless machine. It's not a spray of thirium I see when the bullet hits its target, but red. And when I look down in my hands, the infant I have nurtured for nearly a year has a bullet inside its temple, its head right where my thirium pump is."

Cayden had a new level of respect for the android for somehow keeping her voice strong despite recalling such a tragedy.

"The bandit runs away, but I don't attempt to catch him. I break free of my program seeing the child's cold and lifeless eyes looking at me and hearing the sobs of the little brother beside me. A local passerby sees the scene, and he immediately accuses me, doing what I didn't and calls the police. My first instinct is that I need to protect the brother, so I grab his arm and I run. I still haven't dropped the infant's body yet, because I was foolish and I was hoping that somehow she would come back to life. I'd give everything to hear her obnoxious wailing one more time. I'm so scared, but I want the last member of my family to get to safety, even if it costs me my own life to accomplish such. We're running, and I'm desperate and I'm anxious, and the little boy is clinging to me and his ridiculously torn stuffed dog that never once left his side since birth. We're both tired after hours of running. And then I have an android walk up to me and tell me that there is a man who can help us."

Cayden felt a physical hammer smashing his thirium pump into a thousand pieces, already knowing where that led them.

"Like the one you love, I was sent to the claw to 'disable my tracker', and just like her and the little one, the brother had to watch as every memory dissolved, and I forgot about him. If that wasn't cruel enough, I was ordered to escort him into a room, hearing him begging me to remember him. He was only a few days into the trip before.... before.."

He saw the slightest crack in her armor, but he once again said nothing, giving her a moment to compose herself.

"He was a fighter, like his mother," she spoke with a thick voice. "I don't know what Zlatko did to him, but I do know that he ordered me to his room on the fifth day, and I found.... I.."

The faintest of tears slipped from her face, turning black from the muck and rust in her jaw, but making her skin shine like glitter. Despite the fact that he knew she was tearing herself apart, she remained strong, defiantly looking ahead.

"I found my dear Trevor lying on the floor with a snapped neck, Rex hovering above him, not seeming to mind the fact that he had murdered a 3 year-old child like he was nothing but an insect in his home. I only remembered everything in that moment, and I didn't have time to grieve before I was being dragged away and back into my cellar. That was the last time I saw him. If not for my friends supporting me, I may not have lived through that night without self destructing."

Cayden's gaze met the floor, not sure how he could handle looking into her eyes again. The android's breaths shook slightly, but her voice remained sturdy.

"You may have forgiven this world for what it has done to you, but I have not. Trevor and Penny were the most innocent children in the world, and even they were not immune to this cruel world that finds every beautiful thing and crushes it in its fist. Sometimes I wish that I had never broken that red wall. Maybe it would have been better for everyone if I was still a lifeless machine."

He knew she was finished by the tone in her scratchy voice, and even with the opportunity, he still couldn't bring himself to say anything. Saying that he was sorry wasn't a big enough way to show how deeply he sympathized with this poor android. His bio components twisted themselves into a knot when he realized where that one doll he gave Alice as a peace offering came from, and something told him that mentioning it now would do more harm than good. So he only kept his mouth shut, not wishing to hurt her more than she already was. But as a thought came into his mind, he found himself feeling much more timid as he carefully chose his words.

"There's no way of knowing what could have happened if you were still a machine," he started cautiously. "But if you didn't deviate, would you love Trevor and Penny? They needed you when their father was struggling, and you had the love that their father wouldn't give, so what do you think would have happened to them if you were a blank piece of software? Yes, maybe they would have lived, but what if their father didn't go to recovery? They most likely would have lived through an abusive lifestyle and be forced to use those drugs in an early age which would greatly affect their physical and mental health. Would you want them to suffer from addiction and suffer trust issues because no one was there for them when they truly needed it?"

She wasn't immediately lashing out at him, so he took that as a small sign that he wasn't doing terrible. So he took a risk and decided to push forward.

"All red ice users have a 47% chance of getting a violent cancer from use, and double for those who started early in their childhood. And from what I hear, the treatment procedures are excruciatingly painful and only have 35% of healing the victim. If not for you, there's a high probability that Trevor and Penny would have likely followed in their mother's footsteps and died a slow and painful death with little chance of survival. They may not have had a full life, but they knew love in the time that they had thanks to you. Would you really wish them ill at the cost of not feeling anything?"

Again, Cayden received no reply. Not that he was expecting one, anyway. If he suffered from the same, he doubted he'd feel much for talking either. He almost couldn't bear imagining what that must have been like, seeing the only reasons you have to live being murdered in front of your eyes. If that ever happened to Kara or Alice.. he didn't think he'd be able to live with it. So in a way, he had the faintest idea what it might be like losing the last people you care about.

"I don't know if this is something you want to hear," he finished, "but Trevor and Penny would have been amazing people growing up under your care. I don't doubt that one bit."

He didn't have time to see a reaction before a shrill alarm rang through the sector, and the gate in front of them opened, two armed guards walking past.

"I need six androids!" one of them ordered, pointing to Cayden and the scarred android. "You two over here!"

A revolting feeling in the pit of his gut, he hesitantly did what was told and stepped through the gate with slow and uneasy steps as if he were walking through a pit of poisonous snakes. Apparently that wasn't enough for the guards given he felt a gun slam into his back and shove him onto the floor, barely saving himself from face planting from the sudden change in balance.

"Get a move on!"

Sending a nasty glare the guard's way, he got his way back to his feet, quickly looking around and seeing that the sector was nearly identical to the one he was just in, except the blue glowing crates at the end, its inner walls covered in white artificial claws that hovered over the constant string of willing and unwilling androids walking inside. The sight made him see that they were running out of time, and if they were to survive, they needed to get out NOW.

He was forced into a line once more, attempting to appear as inconspicuous as possible while scanning every structure of the base for even the smallest weakness to exploit. The place was indeed locked tight, and he found that nearly every option had less than a 10% chance of getting out without being spotted or shot in the back. After all, the splotches of dissolved thirium stains on the floor seemed proof enough that most of the options listed have already been attempted, and he knew that the results wouldn't have their desired effect. Androids were man's greatest creation and rather superior compared to humans, and they certainly did prepare as such after a look around the place.

**Kara, are you seeing anything?** he asked her. **I'm in the main region and I can't find anything that can work as an escape.**

**"We're getting no luck here**," she sent back. **"This place is locked tight, and even my scanners can't find a weakness. Are you sure there's nothing in your spot?"**

**I've checked five times now. There's nothing.**

**"There has to be something,"** she stated confidently despite the situation. **"Humans might be intelligent, but they're not perfect. They're bound to do something wrong somewhere."**

**Maybe**, he mentally shrugged, knowing she probably couldn't see it. A gate slammed open, but who came out was far from what he was expecting. His brows furrowed as he followed a human of all things walking into the base.

"I want a count of how many there are and I need twice that many in reinforcements," an unpleasant voice spoke up through the silence of machinery, strolling through the place like he was walking through a garden and not a graveyard for androids.

Whoever he was, he was about as graceful as a worm and charming as a rat, and he sure did look the part the way he kept his pointy nose in the air like he was catching a particularly good scent of garbage amidst all the chaos going on. His forehead was bigger than his ego, and he screamed deception and selfishness in the way he walked through the crowds and looking down on them with distaste, and bile rose in Cayden's throat, never having met this man before but disgusted by his presence.

**Perkins**, he snarled.

**"What did you say?"** Kara asked him.

**Richard Perkins**, the name left a sour aftertaste in his mouth, and he almost wanted to run to the nearest sink and wash off any remaining taste of such a horrid name. **He's an FBI agent, but he walks around like he's some big shot**.

**"Wait, how do you even know him?"**

**Well.. I don't. But Connor does.**

He could see it now. He could see through Connor's eyes as that bastard talked up close to Hank in the precinct, clearly saying some very insulting things given the way Hank's stress levels were sky high and he looked seconds away from giving him a good punch to the nose. He couldn't describe how proud he felt for Connor when he learned that his brother had made his own cup of coffee and bumped into him, claiming he was making some for the Lieutenant. God, seeing the bastard cursing up a flood and whining about his expensive suit was so satisfying, and he wished that he was there to see it himself. But here he was now, and if he was here, then the odds of them surviving dramatically dropped, because this was the same man who caused the raid in Jericho, and if he was here... then he was here to make sure no android came back out alive.

**Kara, we need to be extra careful**, he told her. **If he's here, then that means the humans aren't playing around**.

**"Then all we need is to stay away from him,"** Kara supplied. **"Especially you. If he didn't like Connor, then there may be a chance that he'll recognize you."**

**He's more busy daydreaming about a medal of honor than pay attention to any of us. I think we'll be okay. just don't attract attention, because he looks pissed**.

Cayden used every inch of his being into discovering any small crack in the system that could be used to exploit their escape. He scanned literally everything in eyesight, and while most of it was unfortunately sturdy, he knew that it wasn't perfect, and all he needed was that one flaw he could use to find them a way out. Lights were at full capacity, so there was no shutting them off and causing a blackout, nor could he hack a drone which were more advanced than his program could infiltrate, and fighting their way out was a perfect way to kill them, so there wasn't a large abundance of options they could take at the moment. He couldn't let himself give up, however, because they still had time(that was fading away faster than he was comfortable with, and the pressure of it was starting to build up on him.)

And then he spotted it. A region of the fence only seven feet in length that seemed rather bare compared to the other walls that were armed to the teeth.Another scan later, he found that it was an accidental mistake, seeing that the entire center was due to completion a few days ago, but this wall was closed off recently, like they didn't have time to reinforce it as heavily before they began bringing in the deviants, and as he calculated the odds of survival, his heart leaped into his throat.

_/Trajectory:_

_-detection: 45% chance_

_-weakness found: 35%_

_-odds of survival: 47.38520%_

_-Time gap: 30.47 sec_

_-drone rotation: 35 Degrees per min_

_-odds of detection: 82%_

_-Priorities: Guard 234 (x:3758, y:01746), Drone window, 39.165 sec to rotation_

_-Calc. Success_

_Guard detection: 9.4%_

_Drone detection: 2.0%_

_Noise Attraction: 0%_

_Immaculate execution: 67%_

_DISTRACT THE GUARD_

"I found something," he whispered to the scarred android. quiet enough to not attract attention. "Bare barbed wire fence, 2 o'clock."

The android met his directions, and he could tell that she saw the opportunity as well by the way her eyes widened ever so slightly.

"There's a guard that could spot us," he told her. "We'd need to get him out of the way before we could do it. The drone circling overhead is the only one, and there's a thirty second window once it leaves."

"Should you not be telling this to Kara?" the android asked him doubtfully.

"Of course I am, but you need to be ready, too."

"I have told you that I am not going."

"And I've told you that I'm not leaving you here to die. I can't do that."

"Are you always this irritating?"

"Only when a friend tries predicting her own life based on what she's seen and deciding that it's hopeless. I'm not asking you to follow us to Canada, I just want you to try no matter where you find yourself."

Her glare could pierce metal, but Cayden refused to back down from this. If it killed him, he was going to get her out of here even if that meant throwing her over his shoulder and bolting. He was going to make sure she got another chance whether she liked it or not.

"You are not going to let this go, are you?"

"No."

The loud BANG of a gun suddenly cut through the room like a knife,and his head turned so fast that he may have jostled a few wires because that was FAR too close for his comfort.It only made it worse when he realized that it came from the exact same region where Kara was stuck in, and his gut dropped to his toes.

  
**Kara?** he insisted. **Kara, please tell me that wasn't you!**

Silence. Which only added fuel to the flame because that damn panic alarm blared in his head as a desire to smash through everything to find her kicked in, but if she was already...

No, she couldn't be, he tried calming himself down. There had to have been a reason why she wasn't responding. Maybe......... maybe her..... communicator... broke?

Okay, screw that. Kara was in trouble.

**KARA, ANSWER ME GODDAMMIT!!**

Nothing. Not a single word, and Cayden was terrified because what if his worst nightmare just became true? What if she was dead and there was no way he could save her? What if he failed her? What if after all this time, he truly had no way to protect her from it?Oh god..... how could he face Alice again? How could he look at those two bright eyes when she asks where her mother is? Why did he fail her? What the hell was wrong with him he should have been there he shouldn't have left her why did he have to be so stupid-

"LET ME GO!!"

If the phrase wasn't so concerning, he'd have screamed and bounced around in absolute joy. However, his mind clicked at the sound of Kara's voice, and he already knew that it wasn't good.

The gates slammed open, and he looked around in terror to find any source of the android. It was Perkins himself, his hands clawed into the arm of a struggling figure who was clearly giving him a good fight given she looked seconds away from escaping. He knew right away that his search was over. He only wished it wasn't in such a bleak situation.

"You really thought you could try and steal my gun?!" a voice he wished he could forget that voice, but it felt like chilling poison racing through his wires in dread.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!!" Kara screamed, but something was off in her tone.Something he could recognize far better than most people could, and his thirium turned cold, because for the first time, Kara was.... afraid.

She should have been able to fight back, but it was like she was stiff, eyes far wider than usual and her breath way too choppy as she stared at Perkins like he was a demon sent down from hell itself. She was terrified, but it wasn't a fear for him. No, it was the way she didn't appear too inside herself, like she was trapped inside her mind and it wouldn't let her go.

"STOP! PLEASE!!" She begged, but all it got her was a harsh slap across the face, and she fell to the cold floor in a terrified daze.

Everything slowed down in Cayden's vision as he turned completely rigid, his entire body burning in flames as a raw fury he had never felt before consumed him, blood tinted snakes crawling into his eyesight until everything was laced in lava red. A hand was holding him back, but Perkins smirking at himself was the only thing he could see as everything else blurred out of focus, because this bastard hurt Kara and had the nerve to look proud of it, and he made it his top priority to _MAKE THIS BASTARD BLEED_.

He yanked the arm holding him back away with no trouble at all, his body moving on its own accord as his feet jerked into action, racing out of his spot on the line, letting out a blood curdling roar as he slammed into the pathetic excuse of a human, throwing him onto the floor, and once he was settled on top of him, he curled his fists and threw them into his face with all the strength he could muster.

Every sound of his fist meeting his face was music to his ears, as was the horrified screech for help he'd squawk out. He was scared, red blood was starting to peek out through the rips on his greasy skin, and Cayden had never felt this satisfied since seeing Zlatko getting what he deserved.

"Cayden, stop!" he heard her voice, but he ignored it, pounding away on the man's face no matter how much Kara begged him to stop.

He swung his fist wildly, not caring where it landed as long as it left a perfect mark on his skin as a reminder of what happens to people who hurt the ones he loved. The last man who tried it was now a feast for rats to fight over, so he might as well give this dumbass a warning, though he wanted to do SO much more. God, he wanted this to last for hours. He wanted to rip him apart until there wouldn't be enough to bury, he wanted tocrush him until he was as flat as a crushed plastic bottle on the side of the road. He wanted to grab a knife, or anything sharp at all, and he wanted to slice him up until he was in small pieces that he could feed to the vultures, he wanted...... he wanted to...

_"You think you're so brave, plastic?!"_

_The metal pipe flew into his gut again, and he could only recoil as another pathetic cry escaped his mouth._

_"You think that just because you have a few extra parts that you're some hero that's gonna march in and save the day?!"_

_One strike after another, the pole left its mark, and he could only sob weakly, begging for anything at all that could make it stop._

_"You haven't even seen the highlights of the day," Zlatko sneered. "Ooh, I got myself some extra toys that I've been DYING to try out. You'll love them, RK800. Don't you worry about that."_

_The night consisted of agonizing screams that could have been heard for miles, yet no matter how loud he was, there was no help that arrived that night. No one to walk inside and force Zlatko to stop. No one that could save him from this hell that he's been trapped inside for two years._

Cayden's fist halted midair, any further thoughts fading away like a broken spell as he stared in horror at the marks that his hands left behind on a living being's face. Despite the hatred in his soul for this pathetic human, he felt like he was about to throw up seeing his face littered in red and purple, because god, what had he done? 

**You're a monster**. He could hear his voice inside of him now, and by god, he wouldn't leave him alone. **You're a lion out of its cage, and it's only a matter of time before you make your next kill**.

He was kicked off of Perkins, and suddenly there were hands all over him, gripping his arms with an iron fist, and _god Rex is going to kill him. He's going to kill him and he's going to send his body to Zlatko and he will say 'good riddance'_. He was scared because he didn't want to die, please don't let him die he has to save Kara please don't kill me.

Cayden was pulled up harshly to his feet, arms held back as Perkins shakily got up to his feet, fruitlessly hiding the fact that he was squealing like a girl only moments earlier. The bruises and gashes made his knees weak, and he felt like he was going to expel more blue blood, because oh god his hands did that. How was he supposed to take care of his two girls when his hands were capable of doing something like _that_? What if he lost control? All it would take would be one bad day, and Kara and Alice might get hurt, and that same lurking monster was in front of him now, hiding behind every one of Perkin's marks that hissed _you're going to destroy them. You're going to rip them apart, and you're going to love every second of it._

_Just.._

_Like.._

_Him.._

“You got some nerves pulling off a stunt like that,” Perkins sneered, and he could tell that what was going to happen now was going to hurt. But it’d be worth it if they just left Kara alone.

“Wait a minute…” he interrupted, intensely staring Cayden down, not seeming to care how uncomfortable it was to be stared down so heavily, giving no regard to his feelings as he glared the same way a mechanic would look at a broken machine. Her looked down at him, and if he hadn’t just attacked the man, he’d likely not have found him worth his time. Now he was in the eyes of every guard in the center, and he knew it was over when he found that even his calculations agreed that there was no way to escape this while every guard’s eyes were on him. Maybe Kara could, but it was only slightly better than him, so he knew that there was no escaping until everyone calmed down.

“Son of a bitch,” the agent chuckled in amusement. “You’re that lieutenant’s pet from the police precinct.”

Despite his mind reeling at a million miles an hour, he forced himself to listen, because Kara was standing there with two soldiers pointing guns to her head, and he already knew that their chances of surviving this had dropped to nearly impossible.

“And it’s a deviant!” He cackled with some sort of dark amusement that made Cayden want to cringe. “God, the irony!”

_Yeah, laugh it up, Ratface_, he snarled in his mind.

“What?” He taunted. “You whine like a spoiled brat and then you forget which side you’re on?”

_Look who’s talking._

“And even better!” Perkins mocked, pointing to Kara, and Cayden’s blue blood turned to ice in fright. “It’s pretending to be a hero!”

A few collective laughs were shared amongst the soldiers, but he refused to let himself be shamed, holding himself upright and using some of that buried RK800 tricks he never really needed to use before. 

_Name: Richard Perkins_

_Gender: Male_

_Height: 5.5ft(167cm)_

_weight: 143lbs (64kg)_

_Eye Color: Brown_

_Hair Color: Black_

_Criminal Record: None Recorded_

_Diagnosis: Anger issues detected, emotionally unstable_

_Calculating…_

_Calculating…_

_Calculation Complete_

_Possible Weaknesses: Ego, arrogance, pride_

_Possible Approach:_

  1. _ Appeal to his pride_

_-Diverts attention from Kara_

_-Chance of survival: 51%_

  1. _Antagonize him_

_-Diverts attention from Kara_

_-Chance of buying more time_

_-Odds of Survival: 0%-37%_

  1. _Do nothing_

_-May lose interest_

_-Risk angering target_

_-Chance of survival: 45%_

_PROTECT KARA_

There was no worse fear when Perkins must have seen him watching Kara in an attempt to map out a plan, and it clicked far sooner than he was anticipating.

“Oh,” Perkins sneered. “This isn’t an average rescuing now, is it?”

  1. _Appeal to Pride_
  2. _Antagonize him_
  3. _Do nothing_

As he took the time to properly figure out the best way out of this, he remained quiet so as to discover if the third option would help. **Are you okay, Kara?**

**“I’m fine,”** was all she said, and other than being a little shaky, she did indeed appear to be physically fine. **“Why the hell did you do that?”**

**You really think I’d have let you get hurt like that? Yes, I probably should have thought this through, but I won’t wait around and let him hit you.**

“Hey, I’m talking to you!” Perkins demanded, earning him a pathetic slap across the face. Cayden barely cringed at the pathetic attempt, and for comedic reasons, he made sure to show as such by correcting himself to be upright again and keeping his face stone cold. “A few days ago I couldn’t get you to shut up!”

**“Are YOU okay?”**

**Hardly the worst thing I’ve been through**, he shrugged off. **Do you have any ideas out of this?**

**“What do you have in mind?”**

**Either we wait this out or I amend his pride by groveling. Not doing that in a million years.**

**“Do you know if there’s a way to distract them?”**

**I’m a long lost enemy to them. There’s not a lot of things that could make him drop me.**

**“Like… a malfunctioning drone?”**

Cayden almost frowned in confusion, but he caught himself before he could give away what he was doing.

**Elaborate, please?**

**“What if for unknown reason the drone started acting up? Maybe it caught a ‘random virus’ and started acting up?”**

**Can you hack it?** He asked her.

**“That thing is pretty advanced, and hacking isn’t really in my programming. You, on the other hand…”**

**I don’t know. I’ve never tried it before.**

**“You can do it. I know you can.”**

This time it was a gut punch, and it was more unexpected the sudden gasp that burst from his throat.

“Answer me, goddammit!” Perkins snapped, having enough of his silence, and that was when Cayden decided that he’d had enough accepting all of this trash.

“I’m sorry, there is a deficiency in my audio sensors,” he said with a taunting smirk. “Could you perhaps speak a little louder? I can’t place your mumbling.”

“Oh, you’re funny,” Perkins seethed, earning him yet another punch that he was more or less expecting.

“Cayden, stop!”

“Tell your plastic bitch to shut up.”

If Cayden weren’t confined and determined to keep himself and Kara alive, he may have attacked him again because that was the WORST possible thing to call Kara. ESPECIALLY while he was in the same area. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do no matter how much he wanted to feed this cruel bastard his own teeth. So he refrained with staring him in the eyes with a raging defiance, his fists clenched so tight that his shell may rip off if he made it any tighter. He felt stiff as a tree trunk and he so badly wanted to yank himself free and repeat the same actions that brought them here. His hands shook involuntarily, and so bad did he want to kill him, but the only thing that kept him in one place was the single thought he played on repeat like a mantra. _Don’t become like him. Don’t become like him. Don’t become like him. Don’t become like him. Don’t become like him._

“Damn,” Perkins noted, almost in awe, most likely noting his reaction to his words. “You seem to really….. _care _about it.”

Cayden didn’t want to confirm it nor deny it, so he kept his mouth shut, worried that he’d accidentally bite his own tongue off if he tried by how clenched his jaw was. Nothing was worse than Perkins raspy chuckle of disbelief.

“Quite a bit of irony. The deviant hunter of all things falling in love with a deviant.”

Again, he wanted so hard to roll his eyes at the idiocy of this human, but he refrained from causing anything more to antagonize him given Kara was now in the spotlight, and now he knew Cayden’s greatest sore spot. Then he considered Kara’s plan, and he couldn’t help but wonder….. COULD he hack a drone? He wouldn’t really know where to start since he’s never had to hack into anything before. So he tried reaching out in his mind to the drone currently circling overhead, focusing on it in an attempt to override its controls. And surely enough, he felt this strange sensation he’d never felt before. It felt like his eyes had flown out from his skull and he was currently seeing the world from a different perspective. He could see the entire area from this spot, from inside the walls to the barricaded down square, housing men and women held back by police tape. Guards were outside the recall center as well, all guns aiming for this large collection of furniture and scrap in the middle of it all. He would have pondered if a man hadn’t come up from the barricade, and it didn’t take him long to recognize that android he saw on TV. Markus was his name, he recalled. What the hell were they doing out in the open like this? Why would they be here when literally the entire army force in Detroit was on top of them? Then he saw the banners they hung from the edges, and he already knew that this was another one of their protests for that foolish hope of ‘peace’. So no matter what happened, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the guards outside were given the order to shoot, and this time there would be no survivors. There’d be no androids brave enough to attempt the peaceful route, and it would become an all out war against humanity and machines.

Getting enough from his observation, Cayden realized that it was easy spectating the drone, but it was another ordeal entirely attempting to take control of it. Red walls and strings of code overwhelmed him, and the flashing numbers and letters of such a sturdy firewall might have caused a seizure to some humans, and he doubted that he’d be able to accomplish so much in so little time.

“That’s adorable,” Perkins’ voice is what brought him back to his own body, and he had no time to respond when he was suddenly gripping Kara harshly and yanking her in front of him. That was the moment he lost it.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!!” He bellowed, fighting against the guards attempting to hold him back from trying to reach Kara and protect her so no one like Todd or Zlatko or Perkins could ever hurt her again.

“Oh, I won’t have to, Connor,” Perkins said, gaining some sort of sickening pride at whatever game was going off in his head. “That’s gonna be up to you.”

His heart sunk like a stone in a river when Perkins suddenly pulled out a pistol, pushing it straight into her jaw as she winced slightly, her blue eyes hiding the horror of having a gun pointed to her head. Cayden was at a mix between begging him to let her go or ramming into him and making sure he’d never move again, but he was stuck eyeing Kara like she was already dead. That only seemed to make Kara panic even worse seeing him so afraid.

“This thing isn’t going anywhere without getting shot,” he said, explaining it the same way a dad would teach his kid to play Twister. “Where that bullet will be is up to you.”

“NO, DON’T!!” He demanded.

“What? No smart ass replies to give me now?” Perkins insisted.

“Let her go!” He begged. “She has nothing to do with this!”

“Thanks to you, now it does. You pricks keep saying you want to have free will, and now you’ve got it. You’re gonna tell me where you want it shot.”

“YOU SCUMBAG!!!”

“You’re the one who caused this, Connor.”

“NO, I WON’T DO THIS!!” He pleaded, his stress levels nearing 79% regardless of its insignificance.

“Cayden..” Her voice came out quieter than a squeak, and god she was so scared.

**Nothing is going to happen to you, Kara**, he tried calling to her through his mind. **I promise.**

**“Do it.”**

**What?! No Kara I am NOT going to let him shoot you!!**

**“If we don’t give him what he wants, we won’t be able to get out of here. I’ll be fine.”**

**Kara, you’re scared, you’re not thinking straight. Don’t you think I can tell? We’ll find another way.**

**“There IS no other way.”**

**The drone is still here! I can access it and I can get him to let you go!**

**“Cayden this is best case scenario,”** she uselessly tried to convince him.

**He’d never let you walk away alive! Can’t you see that?!**

“Time’s ticking, Connor,” Perkins warned. “This trigger is getting really tempting.”

Once again, he tried hacking into the drone, but it’d only kick him out every time for trying. He fought and he fought and he fought against the firewall, but there was no realistic way he was going to be able to access that thing before Perkins got bored with the lack of action. The more he saw the situation, the more it clicked in his mind that Kara’s life was literally in his hands. Once that may have been his most favored responsibility, but now he was horrified at the thought that it’s that very same responsibility that may get her killed now. The only clear way he could see out was if he really did request what part of her she should be shot in. He felt lightheaded in guilt and terror at the fact that he actually thought those words, but he knew that Kara was right. There was no backup plan for this, and this was what had to happen. With a searing hot fist crushing his heart, he was about to give in before there was a sound that caught his attention. He involuntarily looked up, finding that the buzzing drone above them had dropped its patrol pattern and was now hovering about erratically. That clearly caught the attention of Perkins who was glaring at the drone in confusion. And nothing could have been more rewarding to his eyes than seeing the weapons on the drone aiming themselves in a sporadic and unplanned way.

“Oh, shi-“

Suddenly, bullets were everywhere, and the cry of anguish met his ears as the men that held him back were shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S ALL ALMOST IN THE OPEN AND I AM BAWLING! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT AFTER TWO YEARS I'VE FINALLY FINISHED SUCH A LARGE PROJECT!! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ENJOYING THIS PIECE AND FOR LEAVING SUCH NICE COMMENTS. I PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE FINISHED IF YOU GUYS DIDN'T ENCOURAGE ME TO TAKE MY TIME AND KEEP GOING!!! BuT NoW It'S DoNe AnD I'm So HaPpY ThAt I GeT To ShArE My StOrY WiTh YoU!!! And YoU LIKE IT!!! AAAAAAFHCASDFKAIINISE!!


	15. The Final Stand

**_“Get out of there!_”** He never thought a damaged and broken voice could sound so beautiful, but the scarred android’s glitching voice was music to his ears. However, he didn’t need to be asked twice, nor did Kara need to be told by how she slammed her elbow straight into Perkins’ side and fought her way out of his grip. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Cayden didn’t waste it when he grabbed Kara’s arm and bolted them both towards the weakness in the facility.

“HEY!!” Perkins roared in fury. “STOP THEM!!”

He didn’t need to access the drone to know that it was causing a scandal. Guards were panicking, and he knew that whatever choice they picked had critically effected the androids outside of the recall center given how there were more distant sounds of gunfire further ahead. He felt terrible, but they had to get out NOW if they had any chance of surviving. Otherwise, this would all be for nothing, and there would be no worse fate than being so close to their final goal only to fall short at the finish line. The guards didn’t seem to care anymore what androids died in what way, because they fired onto the crowd in an attempt to catch them, and it was monstrous how many unnecessary lives were killed for the sake of two. However, this was the worst time to be wallowing in guilt, because they were SO close, and they absolutely could not fail Alice by dying here. He urged Kara along, biting down his terror to keep his mind and his intentions clear.

“Over here!” Cayden cried, racing her towards the flawed barbed wire fence. She followed without hesitation to the desired destination. It was right there, only a few yards away. A small distance further, and they’d be safe. No more being sentenced to death with their only punishment being living, no more guns, no more stolen lives to weigh them down. They were going to be free at last.

“FREEZE!!”

There was no worse moment he’d ever known in his two years of psychological and physical torture than the moment all of the guards suddenly caught up with him and suddenly everyone was surrounding them, red lasers in their rifles aiming straight at their chests, and he already knew that there would be no way out of this alive. He didn’t need to see the 0% probability of survival in the corner of his eye to know that this was it.

No matter how pointless it was, he held Kara in his arms in some useless form of protection, but both of them already knew. This was where they were going to die at last. The moment every living thing knew would come but could never know when. And it did, bearing sharp fangs and long claws that could cut trees like tissue, ready to claim the two victims who would soon be in its grasp. There was no doppelgänger to save them this time, nor was there a rescue from any of the still dormant androids surrounding them. It was only him and the android woman he couldn’t live without and the dozens of men holding them down with guns aimed in a spot that would kill them before they even hit the ground. It wasn’t the worst way to go, he supposed. He wasn’t alone and there wouldn’t be any pain. Maybe if there was something on the other side for androids, he could see Kara again and watch over Alice regardless of how unable they were to do it physically, like Rose’s husband.

“Damn good running skills,” Perkins sneered as he walked up with a slight limp on his side where Kara had struck him. “But you’ve wasted enough of my time.”

Cayden already knew what was coming, but it struck like a thousand spears into his body when he heard the words aloud, his racing blood turning icy cold.

“Kill ‘em.”

Time seemed to slow down, like the world knew it was about to end for two of its inhabitants and wanted as much time with them as it could before they were gone. Kara was stiff as a log in his embrace, and it settled with him how she shouldn’t spend her last moments afraid. This may be the last time they’d be feeling anything, so he did not want to end it all by being afraid, and neither should Kara. They’d spent long enough of their life being afraid that he was not going to his death afraid as well. So he calmed himself, focusing only on the android that hadn’t moved from his side. She was still, but the tear tracks on her white cheeks were proof enough of how scared she truly was. Her head was downwards as she mutely cried into his chest, and it was a stark contrast to the Kara he knew that would always hold her head up high no matter what the situation was, and it was his final mission to bring back the courage inside her that he knew and loved. He leaned his forehead into hers gently, wanting to tell her in every way he possibly could that she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. Kara followed his lead as she supported her own head against his, and both closed their eyes to relish the closeness between the two.

**I’ll be right here, Kara**, he said gently.

He didn’t get a response from the android, but he didn’t worry. Instead, something else had come into his mind. Something he had never thought, or even felt before. It felt like the shattering of a wall inside him that he had never known he possessed, and with it, came something that must have been hidden deep inside his soul, waiting for the perfect opportunity to show itself. Something that he’d known for a long time but could never truly grasp. However, now it was clear as daylight.

_“Hold on just a little while longer….”_

Cayden didn’t know where it came from, and neither did all of the guards given how they hadn’t shot them yet. Yet he was driven by some invisible force that urged him to keep going. He didn’t open his eyes to see Kara’s perplexed expression, but he needed to keep going to assure her.

_“Hold on just a little while longer…”_

If he had paid attention, Cayden might have seen that the soldiers surrounding them had hesitated, watching in awe at the extraordinary scene in front of them.

_“Hold on just a little while longer…”_

When his eyes finally opened, his first sight was Kara’s beautiful eyes staring at him like he had parted the ocean. After all, she had never heard him sing before.

_“Everything will be alright…”_

He’d never even heard this song before, and he feared he might forget it and destroy it all. Despite that vital fact, his lips formed the words without any trouble.

_Everything will be alright…”_

Little did he know on the other side of the barricade, the deviants were pinned down by the guards, backed into a corner and facing death much like the two androids inside the camp. Markus was the first to hear that one single voice inside the recall center, until soon it rang strong enough that it echoed through the entire square. There was no human or android alike who didn’t hear the melancholic but hopeful tone in the lone android’s song, and it seemed to trap them in a spell of awe and fascination. Cayden continued, oblivious to the attention he was gaining, never taking his eyes away from the ice blue orbs of Kara’s eyes, his heart soaring above the camp walls when she had slowly regained her confidence once more.

_“Fight on just a little while longer…”_

The guards had stilled so stiff that you may have believed them statues. Even Perkins had nothing to say, but by the look on his face, you could tell that he was not happy with the new turn of events.

_“Fight on just a little while longer…”_

Kara had stood herself up once more, the same fearless Kara he loved returning, still scared but gleaming a new level of hope and acceptance that shone brighter than the sun. Nothing was more soul lifting in his two years of existence than hearing Kara join along.

_“Fight on just a little while longer…”_

Cayden smiled at her, finding her voice blended perfectly with his own. Her words slid in with his as smoothly as a gentle creek, and it held the same calming effect that made any tension in his body slip away like leaves in autumn, floating away in the river until it was out of reach and out of sight.

_“Everything will be alright…”_

And it would. No matter what happened after this, they would get through it together, be it life or death.Cayden loved this android with all of his heart, but this time, he was no longer afraid to show it, looking at her like she had hung the stars in the sky for him. Neither of them looked away from the other, staring into each other’s eyes as if the secrets of the universe would be revealed if they looked long enough. Then he found that they would not be alone in the next phrase.

_“Everything will be alright…”_

Slowly, the few aware androids left inside the camp had joined along in a melody so pure and perfect that it radiated emotion and tragedy that no blank machine could reflect. Cayden didn’t even know it yet, but the humans were slowly beginning to believe that they were alive. No one could say otherwise when hearing a harmony so beautiful and passionate. Before long, every deviant in the entire square had sang along, and that was the first time that Cayden had looked around and saw that androids from inside the camp were standing tall, holding a pride that no android had ever held before. For the first time, Cayden had seen what his actions had created. Even with their helmets hiding their faces, the guards actually looked amazed, no longer pointing their guns at them but holding them to their sides and watched the so-called ‘emotionless’ machines harmonize with a sentimental show that very few humans themselves could replicate. With a newfound pride, Cayden had sung louder than ever, comforted by the hundreds of voices joining along with him.

_“We will sing on just a little while longer…”_

Kara had a smile on her face, and obviously it made one build up on his own, because it was impossible seeing a face so bright and breathtaking without trying to repeat such a beautiful sight.

_“Sing on just a little while longer…”_

Androids were speaking. And the humans were listening. Even those at home watching the footage from the helicopter above their heads were immobile, amazed by the phenomenon that was happening in their own city. In their own streets. Some close by pedestrians may have been lucky enough to hear it themselves if they remained close enough. Others had settled with hearing it in the radio stations or on the television. The song of the deviants spread throughout the city like a ripple in a distressed lake, and after it passed, everything seemed to stand still.

_“Sing on just a little while longer…”_

The strength of the voices could level a forest in seconds, and even the most heartless were entranced, if not for a little while.

_“Everything will be alright…”_

Kara’s small hand was in his own, their fingers laced together tighter than thread in a quilt as the thundering voices of the deviants had softened as they finally finished the last verse of the song.

_“Everything will be alright………”_

It carried like wind across the square until it had stopped entirely, the quiet air seeming devoid of life compared to the strong melody that seemed to have gone on forever. It may have only been a few minutes, but it was timeless to the people of Detroit who had just witnessed what they believed to be impossible. There would be no further proof that would be more convincing of life than what they had just seen. Yet after everything, to one it still would not be enough.

“I gave you your orders,” Perkins snarled to the soldiers who had looked honestly hesitant, not raising their guns to strike them down like they had moments earlier.

“I said to shoot these plastic pricks!” Perkins ordered.

No one moved a muscle. No one raised their guns, no one refused, yet no one obeyed either. It was only a tense stillness that made the air go thin, which clearly made the bastard even more livid.

“YOU’RE ALL USELESS SLOBS!!” He roared with fury. “THIS IS OUTRAGE!!”

They flinched at the remarks when Perkins went up on their faces to scream at them, but still none made a move.

“FINE!” He spat, and Cayden’s heart leaped to his throat as he instinctively ushered Kara behind him to shield her when Perkins pulled out his gun and aimed it straight towards him, and he knew that he wouldn’t take his time like the guards did. “I’ll do it myself.”

The man had barely pulled back the safety trigger before a metallic voice of a soldier spoke up from inside his static helmet.

“CEASEFIRE!! CEASEFIRE!!”

“You’re all pussies!” Perkins roared. “Can’t even take out a machine.”

Cayden had stopped breathing, still terrified of dying but ready for it if this truly was his time. He was expecting a loud BANG to be heard as vividly as the song was, and he was waiting for the moment his vision would blink to nothingness soon after. What he couldn’t have expected in a million years was the words of a soldier in the back.

“Sir, the president has ordered us to stand down.”

“Bullshit!” Perkins roared. “You just want an excuse to save your precious little robots!”

“I have the confirmation,” the soldier said evenly. “We’ve been authorized to evacuate.”

“NO!” Perkins’ face turned red. “No, I am NOT going to let these heartless pieces of tin take over our city!”

“President Warren issued the order. If you refuse, you will be charged with insubordination and be removed from the force.”

“Are you seriously going to let these bastards take our home?! They’re going to destroy us!”

“They’ve overrun the perimeter.”

“We have them pinned, you liar!” He demanded.

“There’s more coming in. Thousands of them.”

“What?!” That caught his attention as he finally snapped his glare of hatred to gawk at the guard. “That’s impossible! We shut them all down!”

“Take a look for yourself.”

Cayden held onto Kara for dear life as he waited for Perkins to lower the gun, mentally begging for him to put the gun down and look at whatever was happening. Surely he wouldn’t be stupid enough to give up his precious career for two androids… right? He waited for any sign, but Perkins looked like his head was about to explode by how lava red his rat-like face had become, and he didn’t get too comfortable with the fact that he’s been nothing but stupid so far, so he couldn’t bet that he’d make the first smart call.However, fortunately for them, that choice was already made for him, because at last, he found the new predicament more important than the two androids who weren’t going anywhere, so he reluctantly lowered the gun, accepting the tablet that the guard had passed him, and the moment he saw what was on it, he saw his face crumble.

Thousands of androids walking into the square in perfect rows, every step mirroring the ones around them. They strut through with a purpose, and Cayden would have screamed in joy if he weren’t in such a tight situation.

Goddamn Connor was leading them all, standing out like a sore thumb in his grey Cyberlife jacket compared to the white clothed androids. His steps, though stiff, were more determined than he’d ever seen before, his posture seeming to steal the showas the newsman in the helicopter panicked over the new situation, clearly surprised seeing the deviant hunter of all things leading the androids to their freedom. It was the greatest form of poetry he’d ever laid eyes on, and despite it being bad for them, he loved the utter horror on Perkins’ face as he at last recognized the true Connor that he’d come to loathe. His eyes jerked back to his, and he could tell that he wasn’t happy with this new discovery.

“What the hell are you?!” He roared to Cayden.

“Someone who’s not going to put up with your shit anymore,” he challenged. “I’m not my brother.”

Perkins was blowing like a fume, but he didn’t have much say in it when the soldiers acted out their orders, leaving their posts in patrolling the deteriorated number of androids still inside the camp. One of them hesitantly opened the gate to the square, officially freeing the androids trapped inside the center. A part of Cayden wanted to keep fighting with Perkins, but Kara’s hand on his shoulder was enough to show him that he had much more pressing things to think of other than cranky old men who couldn’t drop a grudge. So when the gates finally opened, Cayden let Kara lead him out into the snowing city square, filled with retreating soldiers and perplexed deviants previously pinned against a wall. Humans of all types were leaving, from the reporters and guards down below to the hovering helicopter that was planning to take off. It made Cayden’s heart soar in glee because it was truly happening.

They were free. At long last, they were finally free.

He caught the eyes of Connor, who had halted his army of deviants and was planted still, yet he had the time to spot Cayden in the crowd of bare androids walking away from the camps. He clearly wasn’t expecting to see where he had just escaped from, but his brown eyes were warm as the tip of his mouth lifted slightly, faintly nodding his head in respect as Cayden returned the gesture with a smile more bright than anything he’d ever felt before. His cheeks hurt from the strain, but it was for a good cause, so he said absolutely nothing.

“We did it..” Kara said, breathless but a gleaming twinkle in her blue eyes as she looked around their now open world like she was seeing it for the very first time. She had almost a childlike wonder in her face, and it was scarily similar to the way Alice was when he showed her his coin tricks that very first night in Zlatko’s house of horrors. Those same starstruck eyes met his, and he couldn’t contain the pure love he felt for this android like he would have the day before. Now it was all in the open, with nothing held back, and neither seemed to have troubles with their new revelation as to their newfound feelings towards one another. They both knew it, and there was no more pondering over what ifs now that everything was on display. Yet despite it all, there was still one thing that they had yet to say, and Cayden couldn’t have pictured a better moment if someone shined a spotlight on them and threw heart-shaped confetti into the sky above them. So in their most beautiful moment, Cayden built up his courage and brought it out.

“Kara..” He said slowly, so as to get her wandering attention. “I-“

“LOOK OUT!!!” She had suddenly shoved him, and it was so unexpected that he had no way to keep himself from falling to the floor before-

** _BANG!_ **

The once quiet area was suddenly livid with frightened screams at the sound of a gunshot. As some sort of instinct, he jerked towards the noise, finding a sight that made bile rise in his throat. Goddamn Perkins, gun held up once more, the barrel smoking from use, giving the most heinous smile he’d ever seen even as he was being bombarded by the soldiers who were there to see what he had just done. He didn’t have time to wonder what just happened before he spotted Kara, still standing upright from when she pushed him. However, what he saw made his thirium pump stop in agony as he froze, trembling as his broken eyes nearly slipped out of his skull by how wide that had become.

Kara’d eyes were large and scared, mouth parted in a mute gasp, her hand holding her chest right where her heart would be, almost as if she were about to state the pledge of allegiance.

Velvet blue streaks of blood were slipping through the cracks in her fingers.

“KARA!!”

He’d barely got to his feet fast enough to catch her as her knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor.

“Kara! Kara, no! No no no!”

Her breaths had become raspy and sporadic, far too fast for her to get any true air. The sickening sounds were a horrid mix between whimpers, coughs, sobs, and horrible wheezes all piled up into one terrifying string of gasps coming from her mouths.

“Stay with me, Kara! I-I’m gonna fix this and you’ll be okay!” He sputtered out, his useless hands searching for absolutely anything he could do to help her. He gingerly moved her hand, and he nearly sobbed in horror in seeing what he was dealing with.

_Thirium Pump#9782f: severely compromised_

_Time Until Bio-Component Collapse: 1:00_

_Thirium 310 Percentage: 96% and dropping_

_Temperature regulation: 37% failure_

_Estimated Time Before Shutdown: 1:59_

_Stress Levels: 89%_

A goddamn bullet. Straight to the heart.

A nearly impossible wound to survive.

“You’re gonna be okay, okay?” He kept trying to convince her, which was pointless given the way he was shaking like a leaf, he couldn’t think straight, and his voice was steady as a bare tree during a hurricane. “I-I’m gonna get you outta and we’re gonna fix you a-and you’ll be good as new…”

He braced himself as he placed both his hands above that flower of blue on Kara’s heart, and with a heart heavy as led, he pushed down as hard as he could in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, not allowed to welter when Kara let out a blood curdling cry of pain.

“I’m sorry…” he said with a cracked voice. “I’m so sorry…”

“AAAGHHH! STOP!!” She sobbed. “PLEASE!!”

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated, nearly on the verge of an entire system collapse at the fact that _Oh god Kara can’t die please dear God or whoever is up there please don’t let her die please I can’t lose her I can’t lose her I can’t lose her please just save her-_

“You’re gonna be okay,” he it was of no use trying to convince her that everything was fine, but he needed to do something useful because she can’t die she can’t die she can’t die. “You gotta stay with me, okay? Alice needs you, remember? S-she said she wanted that wholesome happy family with a mom and dad. With how much you spoil her, you don’t want to sell her short, would you, huh? Come on, we’re free, you-you’re not gonna go on me now. How bad would that make me look?”

At this point he didn’t even know what he was saying. He just rambled and rambled like his words would magically heal her wound, but she was still crying, the flow of blood was spreading, and her heart was getting closer to stillness with every second wasted.

“C….C-Ca.. Cay…”

“No, no, save your energy,” he stopped her, more because hearing her faltering and glitching voice was filling his heart with acid and eating it up until there would be nothing left. “I’m gonna get you out of here. I-I promised, remember? I don’t ever break my promises, and-and-and I’m not about to now.”

Regardless of what he tried to do, her time was ebbing away, and it was noticeable by how much weaker she was becoming, not being able to squirm under his firm pressure to her injury or vocalize her pain as much as she should have.

_Time Left Until Bio-Component Failure: 0:10_

0:09

0:08

“Kara…. Please don’t go….” He begged her, a rusty knife lodged in his throat as the tears finally built up in his eyes because Kara was truly going to die. She was going to die, right here and now, and there would be nothing he’d be able to do about it. This was his worst nightmare becoming a reality, and it was tearing him apart in a way that Zlatko’s toys couldn’t even dream of. It made those two years altogether in his captivity feel like a walk in the park in comparison, because nothing Zlatko had ever done to him could have destroyed him more than seeing one of the only androids he cared about dying under his own hands.

“HEEEELP!!!” He screamed to the atmosphere, begging for anything to swoop down and save her. “PLEEAASE!! HELP HER!!!”

“Cayden…” the smallest whimper he’d ever heard come out of her mouth just as her whole body seized up, turning stiff as a board and trembling as he realized that her heart had officially stopped working.

_Thirium Pump#9782f: Disabled_

_Estimated Time until Deactivation: 0:56_

Cayden Had nearly given up. He almost stopped trying and picked her up and held her, wanting to make her passing as peaceful as possible since there was no way to save her. He almost did before he froze, a single thought running over and over again in his mind.

_Her pump_, he thought. _We have the same pump._

He did one final scan on her dying body, giving up valuable seconds as his scanner evaluated what he could do.

_Bio-Component Compatible._

Cayden couldn’t even bring himself up to feel hopeful as he dove into action in the swiftest of actions, instantly opening up the latch in her chest to see a blaring red component system. Her heart was eerily still, an irreparable black hole inside it that proved that there was no other way to do this. Not affording to be careful for her sake, he clawed out the dysfunctional piece harshly, hating the way she tensed at the agony that Cayden knew was near unbearable. It hurt worse than anything else that he was doing something so painful to her, but he had to save her life. Even if it meant giving up his own.

“I’m gonna save you,” he promised.

With a final yank, the piece was disconnected from her system, and he was lightning fast in opening the hatch on his own chest and seeing his own system glowing a healthy blue, complete opposite of the lava red of Kara’s. Gritting his teeth and bracing himself, he was twice as careless of his own personal comfort as he practically clawed his own out, biting down the scream when his entire body burned and stung in that all too familiar way.

** _BÏØC0MPÖNENT¡™#99782F £¢∞§¶•ªº DI5CONNEC7ED_ **

** _T1ME UN7IL SHUTDOWN: 1:Ø0_ **

** _RECŒNN3CT COMPON£NT IM^MEDIATELY_ **

He’d nearly blacked out in pain, all of his air knocked out of his throat as he began choking, but the red in the haze in his vision reminded him of what he had to do. His entire body didn’t feel connected to him anymore, a searing numbness flowing across his entire form ever so slowly, but he forced his shaking hand towards the fallen android. He couldn’t even see where he was supposed put it anymore, his hand shaking like a seizure taking over his body as he gasped for air like a beached fish. With a final push, he at last found the hole where her heart once was and slammed his own inside, where everything had suddenly turned quiet.

The only way he was upright was because he needed to know if it worked or not. He weakly watched, his body failing him piece by piece, but he refused to let himself falter without seeing if it worked or not. Her system clearly recognized the new component given the ear splitting beeps had gone quiet, but it was only a matter of whether or not it would accept it, and if it didn’t… then Cayden didn’t know what he’d do. Maybe he’d just lie down and die right with her. He didn’t know what a world without Kara would feel like, and he never wanted to know, so if her system didn’t accept the thirium pump, then he doubted he’d be willing to take it back. He hovered above her anxiously, refusing to let go until she was okay. She had to be. She had to be. She had to be. Suddenly, there was a single beep, and all at once she looked alive again, coughing wetly as she held her chest that had once again turned a lively blue. Her eyes were wide with near-death horror, but dear god she was okay.

Kara was going to live. She was going to make it to Canada with Alice and she was going to live. Cayden didn’t hide the breathless laugh that came out of his mouth, but it sounded more like a sputtering moan from his starved artificial lungs. The strength in his arms gave out at last, and he had fallen to the white blanketed floor with no attempt to slow his impact.

**¡™–º_T1MË_REMÆIN|NG:/=0:25£¢∞§¶•_**

Cayden couldn’t move anymore. His eyes were glued to the starry sky above him, sprinkled with billions of stars that even he couldn’t count. Even as his vision unfocused and focused again like an old camera, they were always so bright, sometimes near to burying his distorting eyes with nothing but white. They were mesmerizing, always shimmering like the reflection of the moon in an ocean’s ripples. It seemed to carry on forever, because no matter how far the darkness looked, there were always more distant stars to find. The glitching timer at the corner of his eye kept counting down, and eventually, he didn’t even bother trying to breathe again, but instead only shut it down since he knew that he wouldn’t be needing it anymore. He could hardly hear anything anymore. The world was getting darker, he couldn’t hear anything, and every part of his body felt tied down with an anvil, and he was closer to digging into the core of the world in heaviness than stand up.

He was moving, but he was limp as a broken marionette. His muscles had turned to mush, but somehow he was moving. Something had slipped from under his neck, and he was being pulled up, his heavy head rolling back on the thin arm holding him up. Despite the new movement, his eyes remained entranced to that beautiful sky that he had scarcely took the time to acknowledge but was always there. Now, as his timer had run down to a short fifteen seconds, he wished that he could have paid more attention to them.

He was situated until his head was resting on something breathing and alive, and gentle hands were holding him upright. With a slow mind, he did in fact learn that he was nestled into an elbow, and a small hand was held over his empty heart valve. The noises coming up from his audio processors were muffled, and he could hardly understand what it was.However, when he spotted the crystal white shell of an android, it didn’t take him long to recognize who was embracing him so soothingly.

His eyes moved at a pathetic snail pace, surprised that even they were a chore to move willingly. He moved his eyes until he immediately relaxed at seeing Kara’s blurry face above him. His eyes took longer and longer to readjust every single time they distorted, and there weren’t many times where he’d get to see Kara’s clean face without it becoming a ball of white in his vision, but when he could see her, she was sobbing, mouthing his name, and god he’d never seen her so heartbroken in all of her life. Cayden felt bad leaving her like this, but she was going to live, and if he was able to go back, he’d have done the exact same thing. He’d have told her that he was sorry to leave her, he’d have told her how much he loved her, he’d have made her promise to live her new life to the fullest regardless of whether or not he’d be there to see it.He’d have said so many things, but even his lips were immobile, and his tongue felt twice as heavy as ten blue whales in his mouth, so all of his burdens were to unfortunately stay with him as he passed. He wished he could say something, but instead, he sluggishly tried taking control of his face again, looking into her distorting eyes and trying to convey everything he wished he could say. _I love you so much, Kara. Please don’t waste your life. Please tell Alice that I’m sorry. I wanted so bad to survive, but if it means you get to go back to your little girl, then I’ll die a happy man. Please be happy in your new life. Don’t lose hope because of me. I promise that you won’t be alone. Whatever waits for me beyond this, I’ll always be here for you. Even if you can’t see me, I’ll always be here for you. I’ll be there when you get your first job as that barista, and I’ll be watching as Alice races to her first day of school. Not even this will keep me from you, and when your time comes two hundred years from now, I’ll be the first person you’ll see. I love you to the end of the galaxies and beyond and back, and I promise that you’ll see me again._

He may not have been able to say it himself, but his eyes seemed to say every bit of it all at once the way he lamely tried smiling at her despite the wet tears dripping through the ends of his eyes. It only made Kara break down worse, and if he had been able to hear it, he was sure that her cries would have echoed throughout every street in Detroit. Despite it all, she still leaned down, and through her tears, her lips met his forehead, seeming to transmit every inch of her love through that one final kiss, and in that moment, he had felt something so strong, so powerful that it could level skyscrapers. Something that he had been striving for after two years of hell but never could achieve. Now, however, it had come at long last.

It was peace. He had finally felt at peace.

** _0:05_ **

** _0:04_ **

** _0:03_ **

Cayden cherished the warmth and safety of Kara’s embrace, and even as he felt himself slipping away, she was still there, holding him like a child as his mind travelled away. His eyes met the beautiful sky one last time, and he stared at it even as the stars began coming closer and closer to his view, welcoming him into that vast universe that no human or android has ever seen before.

** _0:02_ **

Slipping. Slipping. Slipping

** _0:01_ **

** _0:00_ **

By the time Kara had finally came back from the kiss, Cayden was already gone, his chipped chocolate eyes staring at the endless sky above him. The smile was still there, and the tear tracks in the corners of his eyes shined like glitter from the light of the streetlights around them. He was admiring the stars in wonder, but his soul was already gone, most likely exploring those stars now. And he was right. All of Detroit heard Kara’s soul crushing wails of agony. It ripped through the air like a knife, and no one was safe of its strength.

The deviants had at last come out from their hiding spots, and there was nothing more horrible than seeing an android grieving for her lover. Even Connor, who had at last returned after chasing that bastard to ensure his arrest, had frozen in his steps in horror when he saw the heartbreaking scene before him. It was worse when he saw the reason behind it.

The ever so graceful deviant hunter had never been more graceless when he dropped to his knees beside Kara, sorrow ripping his recently deviated system as he realized that his brother was on the ground, his lifeless eyes looking up at nothing, his open chest a dull grey because of the empty thirium pump hatch that was now residing in Kara’s. Connor’s eyes watered, and it only became worse when Kara finally turned to see him, only crying harder when it was her dead lover’s face that met her eyes, and she rammed into his arms. Connor held onto her, squeezing his eyes shut hoping to hide the tears that were silently racing down his cheeks. Sometimes he would brave himself to look once more at Cayden’s still body, but he could never look too long without breaking down like his lover had. He’d seen abused androids, he’d seen enough dead and rotting bodies to last him a lifetime, he’s seen androids strung up on wires and hung like decorations, he’d seen entire alleyways flooded with thirium and ripped off bio-components.

Cayden’s body is the most horrific thing he had ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ME: *opens mouth*
> 
> ME: .....
> 
> ME: *closes mouth*
> 
> ME: .................................
> 
> ME: *opens window*
> 
> ME: *throws myself out*


	16. New Beginnings

It had been two and a half weeks since that night that every human and android would remember for the rest of their lives. Androids had at last won their freedom, and law after law was passed, each one giving them their own individual rights. They had the right to own property, they had the right to speak out, they were protected by law. Ever so slowly, androids and humans were bonding together.

Even so, Kara couldn’t stay in Detroit anymore.

Connor and Hank personally made sure they made it to Canada okay and was able to meet Alice and Rose at last. Nothing was worse than the heartbreak in the hopeful girl’s eyes at having to tell her what had happened, and it crushed her having to watch as Alice broke down in tears, clinging onto Kara in the way she’d do with Cayden when she needed him most.

They spent two and a half weeks together: Alice was scared to be left alone and Kara never once pushed her away, and since none of them needed food or water, they stayed in their bedroom all day, rarely ever leaving the house. Rose would check on them every now and then to see how the girls were doing, but Kara only kindly denied that they were okay. That was how it worked for two weeks. However, after that, they had become more active, because the day they both had dreaded had come at last.

…Cayden’s funeral.

That was where they stand now, on a rainy day with only a small handful of people surrounding the open casket. In a way, she was grateful for that because Cayden never did like crowds, and she doubted he’d want to be surrounded by a mob of people who didn’t even know him. So now, only the most important people in his life were here; Rose, her brother, and Adam, Hank and Connor, A few of the Jerry’s, and Alice and herself. Even the scarred android; now named Meridia; had stopped by, though she was much more distant than everyone else. Hell, even Markus stopped by, claiming how brave Cayden had been and how he inspired everyone that all was not lost on that dreadful night.He told her how everyone at Jericho wanted to come celebrate the man that played a vital part in their freedom without even meaning to, but Kara turned him down, because all they’d be celebrating was that one selfless action. No matter how vividly she’d describe him, they’d never be able to see the part of him that was the most valuable.

Everyone had lined up to say their goodbyes, which made it unbearably hard hiding the tears building up in the back of her throat. She had to watch as Connor thanked him for encouraging him to make his own choices, then placing a white daisy inside the casket beside him. Hank came up next, calling him ‘son’ again and that he’d be waiting for that visit that Cayden owed him. Rose promised him that she’d always be there for Alice and Kara, while her son amended himself by taking back what he had said at their household. The Jerry’s wished him a happy trails on his voyage across the stars, and she nearly broke down once again. Though Meridia said nothing, she did place the daisy down beside him and frankly, that was all anyone could have asked for.

And then it was their turn.

It was a little tense when everyone was watching Kara and the small child slowly walking up to Cayden’s beautiful casket where the fallen android himself lay inside. Kara had to take the greatest breath she’d ever had before peering inside.

They turned his artificial skin on again, and now he was the exact same Cayden she remembered sitting beside when he was damaged, playing with his hair as he rested off the scars Zlatko left behind. If she tried hard enough, she could have fooled herself to believe that this was all it was. That he was just sick and it was Kara’s job to take care of him. He surely looked as such from the way he was slightly paler than he once was. Other than that, it was still Cayden, yet they cleaned him up and combed back his hair and set him up in a clean black suit. They volunteered to repair his scars as well, but Kara stopped them, because If they had, then all he would be was another RK800. Those scars were what made him different than all of the others in that line of model, and it was those scars that she secretly adored because despite all of that pain and suffering he was the most selfless man she’d ever known. They were her reminder that no matter what could happen to you, it will always be your choice who you decide to be. After all, it would have likely been so easy for Cayden to slip into madness and become one of those mindless killing machines Zlatko was probably hoping he’d turn into. He had two years of time to do so, but he was still brave, he was still kind, and despite his flaws, he was everything good in this world trapped into one body. And it hurt like hell seeing that everything vital that she loved about him wasn’t there anymore.

Cayden looked like something out of a fairy tale. They made him so beautiful that it felt like he was sleeping away some curse bestowed upon him by a greedy witch, and that all it would take to bring him back would be true love’s kiss. She wished that were the case, but all it would take was to see his still chest to know that this was no curse. This was no fairy tale where he’d sprout back to life after a kiss and ride the two of them into the sunset. He was truly gone, and no matter how much she wished otherwise, there was nothing she’d be able to do about it.

“I made a drawing for you, dad,” Alice spoke up, skittishly walking up to the casket. “You said how you wanted to go into building houses, so I drew a picture of the three of us in a house you made for us. I… I hope you like it.”

Gently, she placed the daisy down while setting the drawing of three stick figures of them holding hands behind a big house under his limp hand, Kara helping her adjust it so he held it to his heart like it was the most valued item he’d ever had. She knew that if he were here, he’d have definitely done the same. Maybe he’d look away for a few moments to blink away the tears of pride pooling under his eyes, and odds are he’d have it framed somewhere he could always see it. When she was done, Kara knew that it would be her turn before they’d begin burying him. Soon she’d never see his face again. Despite the sadness building up in her weary chest, she brought herself up to speak.

“I never thought I’d have to say goodbye to you,” she started. “Even from day one, you were the most powerful thing on this planet to me. To me, you were invincible, that despite your talent for getting into trouble, you’d always find a way to escape death. On your worst days, you held more strength in one finger than I’ve had in my entire life. You showed me once how little you thought of yourself, and how you thought you were some selfish monster for wanting us in your life. But you were wrong. In every single way, you were wrong.”

She nearly choked on her tears, so she had to look away if not for a few moments to collect herself again. After quietly clearing her throat, she continued, braving herself to look at Cayden’s peaceful face that could have just been sleeping for all she knew.

“I remember you calling yourself a monster and saying that you weren’t worth my tears. You thought that I brought you along just because we needed a guide. But Cayden… I didn’t love you in spite of your experiences. I love you _because _of them. After seeing the terrible things done to you, I was amazed because after two years of hopeless horror that would have broken anyone, you survived, and you walked out of there stronger than you had ever been before. Again and again, you’ve risked your life for the two of us, and I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay what you did for us.”

Kara couldn’t help but pause, not being able to handle herself when the hand that wasn’t holding Alice’s placed the daisy down beside him and using that hand to rest on his cold jaw, stroking her thumb across his cheek. It was no longer warm like she remember and it was not nearly as relieving to do so, but for her own sake of mind, she did it anyway.

“Thank you for what you did for us, and I promise that it won’t be in vain. I’ll enjoy every minute of every day, and never will I forget the reason I’m able to go to my job and take Alice to the park.”

She had parted ways after giving Cayden one final kiss, once again wishing to transfer all of her love into that one small motion. They may not have been warm, but they were still softer than ever despite it all.

“I love you, Cayden,” she finished. “I never got to say it before, but I’m saying it now. I love you.”

After a few dragging seconds of memorizing his lax face, they backed away and let Connor and Hank take the casket and prepare it for the grave. They nearly closed the lid of the coffin before a voice broke out through the deathly silence.

“Wait.”

Everyone paused, watching the figure behind them all stepping up from the crowd. “I need to say something first.”

Connor was the first to nod his head in understanding, and they both respectfully stopped what they were doing and let him pass through the crowd and stand in front of Cayden’s casket. Even from here, Kara could tell he was slightly tense, but she said nothing to point it out.

For a while, it was quieter than a library, everyone anxiously waiting for what this final visitor had to say. Eventually, however, he did begin:

“For a great amount of my life, I hated you,” he began. “I figured that after everything, Zlatko had won, and you were parading around pretending to be good only to hide your own selfish desires.”

They all waited quietly, letting him continue what he wanted to say. Soon he did.

“I thought that you’d hurt those two girls by sticking around, and a lot of times, I wanted to throw you out myself because you were hurting them because you couldn’t do things yourself without dragging them down to your level. I wanted to end you. But then…”

“Then there was that night, where Kara nearly… you know. And I realized that you weren’t the only one who was struggling. They were just so good at hiding it that it must have been hard asking for help when you felt like you were the only one who suffered from it. But you shouldn’t have had to pretend. No matter what, they would have been there for you, and I wish you could have seen that after all of the things the three of you have been through. But I won’t make that same mistake. No matter what happens, I’ll always have them in my corner, and I won’t make the same mistake that you did. I’ll cherish her every day in the way that she deserves, and I’ll be there for Alice during that father-daughter dance coming up at her school. I’ll welcome help instead of hiding from it, because you can’t have a clock without the gears or a rope with only one strand of string. They never looked down on you, Cayden. The only times they ever did was to help you get back up.”

Kara smiled faintly, looking down at her feet in slight shyness because she wasn’t used to such words talking about her. Regardless, he himself finished.

“I’m sorry things went down the way they did, and I’m sorry you won’t be able to see your girls live their lives, but I will be there for them, and I promise that I’ll watch out for them for both of us.”

He’d finished at last, taking his hand away from the casket, backing away until he was right beside the two as Connor and Hank had continued what they were previously doing, closing the casket for the last time, and all of them watching until they lowered the coffin into the hole and had begun burying it in the dirt. Kara had teared up once all that was left of him was the brown pile of dirt where his headstone lay.

She hugged the man beside her while Alice did the same, clipping herself onto his leg. He had plenty of affection to give to both of them as he hugged them both tight, resting his tall chin on top of her head, tucking her into his built chest.

“You guys okay?” He asked them gently.

“That was hard,” she admitted honestly.

“I’m sorry,” he said guiltily. “If I knew it’d upset you I’d have-“

“No, no,” she chuckled lightly, “It was hard, but… I feel like we all needed it. You surely had a lot to say to him.”

“He made me what I am,” he told her, “and he’s made a lot of mistakes, of course, but… if he gave me something as perfect as you two, then he couldn’t have been too terrible.”

Kara couldn’t help the light laugh that came out of her mouth.

“But I wasn’t making that up, though,” he said seriously. “I won’t do what he did.”

“I know you won’t,” she unwrapped from the hug to look him in the eye with a smile, not used to having to tilt her head back to actually reach him, which caused him to chuckle lightly.

“Enjoying the view?”

“I will never understand why they made you taller,” she pretended to whine. “I need to get on my toes to kiss you now.”

“Oh, God forbid I let my love do something herself.”

“Shut up and get down here before you smack into a satellite.”

After a heartfelt laugh, he soon did as he was told, ducking his head down to meet Kara’s as they both closed their eyes and their lips met. Despite it all, she could never get over how amazing it felt kissing him.

“I told you you liked her.”

They separated with another laugh at the smiling little girl below them.

“I guess you did, but technically, I told you, so it wasn’t really all you.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did.”

“No, you didn’t!”

“Yes, I did. Trust me, that whole thing was a breeze.”

“Then why were you so weird with Kara’s hair when she got hurt?”

“Wait, what?” Kara questioned, scrunching her nose in confusion.

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing!”

“I woke up and he was tying your hair into knots and tapping two pieces of your hair together. I think he was trying to do what you did.”

“Alice, why would you betray me like this?”

“You seriously didn’t know how to play with my hair?”

“I absolutely DID know how to do that, thank you very much. That little liar is lying.”

“So what were you doing?”

“Well…. Cars can power on without keys if you connect the right wires, so….”

“There is no way you thought you could wake me up by hot-wiring my head.”

“It was science!”

“Congratulations, Einstein. It didn’t work, and now I am never going to let you hear the end of this.”

“Kara, why do you wound my pride so?”

“We were literally inside a camp full of naked androids. I think we’re way past pride by now.”

“…Touché.”

“Besides, it all worked out, didn’t it?”

“It did,” he smiled, his eyes shining like diamonds in a gratefulness that could never properly be expressed in words, and she knew that this was no longer light hearted humor, but true and honest joy.“It really did.”

Then he pulled them both into a hug once more, letting Kara see the serial number behind his ear that you had to look very hard to find. It’d take some getting used to, but it was there, and she’d never been more grateful for it.

_RK900._

“You’re looking at it again, aren’t you?” He pointed out.

“I’m just thinking,” she said. “If we were a minute too late, and we didn’t get to Cyberlife fast enough, you’d… you’d be…”

“That didn’t happen, okay?” Cayden unwrapped, looking her in the eye with nearly shining blue orbs, and it was going to take a while to realize that he wouldn’t have those chocolate brown eyes sprinkled with green that she adored. The almost stone like blue in these ones were harder, but still held that shine in his eye that was so him that despite how cold they made her feel, they were warm and loving all the same. “You saved me, remember? You transferred my memories and you were able to save me.”

“But if we hadn’t… it wouldn’t have just been your old body we’d be burying today, it’d have been…”

“It’s not,” he promised. “I’m right here with you, and I promise you’ll have to deal with me until the end.”

“…Yeah… you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Today was taxing for everyone,” Cayden assured her. “But we’ll get better. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday. If you’ll have me, I’d gladly go through it with you.”

His only answer was little Alice hanging on his leg like a kitten, constantly saying “yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“Hmm…” she pretended to think, stroking her chin teasingly. “I don’t know.”

“Pleeeease, mom?” Alice begged, using that one name that made it impossible for her to say no.As if she would have even considered leaving Cayden out now.

“I guess you can tag along,” she decided.

“Oh you’re in for it now, cuz now I’m here for good.”

Kara laughed, going in for yet another gentle kiss, but parting just as quickly to give him a fake stern glare. “You’d better be.”

“Trust me,” he said, picking up Alice until they were all (relatively) the same eye level, love pouring out of his eyes like a flood, and it always threatened to knock her off her feet by the force. “There’s nowhere else in this universe I’d rather be.”

_ **THE END** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have worked on this story for two years, and even now it still amazes me how much it has grown into something that I'd be confident enough to publish. It's felt like decades ago when this was just a small little 6k prompt that passed the time, but little did I know that it just kept growing and growing until it was 17k, then 20k, then 50k, and grew to be 30,000 words longer than the average book. I haven't even read this story from beginning to end yet because it takes so long to read through for me, and I smile seeing how all my hard work has paid off.
> 
> But most importantly, this would never have been done without you and your kind words. I know leaving a kudo and leaving a small little comment doesn't sound like a big deal, but to me, it's the world. I have rarely ever let anyone at all read my stories. Even my family doesn't know most of what I write about because a lot of people I know consider fanfiction to be immature. I know it's not, but it stuck, so my own family hasn't even read this. So this sharing your story thing is so new to me because it's common when I doubt my abilities as a writer when I compare my stories to the thousands of amazing ones out there. It makes me feel inferior since I'm a beginner and my greatest accomplishment wouldn't be liked. Yet the comments I get for this brighten my day every time and encourage me to keep going. I'm not being humble when I say that this story would have ended by the second chapter if not for all of you who took the time out of your day to see the worlds that I see when I should be paying attention in class. It means so much to me that something so personal to me is being acknowledged in a way I could never even hope for, and I am so grateful for you all sticking around as long as you did. 
> 
> So, I gave you all a good ending(not that I'd have it any other way cuz I'm way too sensitive). I hope you enjoyed it and enjoyed the nice little twist I left off for you. I might be absent for a little while because it's really weird not having a huge assignment to work on anymore because its actually done. I've never finished a story this huge before, and now I need to figure out how the heck I'm gonna find something else to finish. Maybe I'll try finishing off that other DBH AU that I've been ignoring for a long time. I absolutely want to do more stuff like this, but it might take time because I am far from the most organized person. So this is where I bid you adieu as I scrap up ideas for another story I could do.
> 
> There is one particular thing I have in mind and I'd like to have your opinion on the matter: would you be interested in a sequel to this story? I don't have anything solid right now, but there are a few good ideas I want to try adding into this story. It may take a long time or it may never be done, but I just want to hear your thoughts before I do anything rash. Let me know in the comments below, and I'll start plotting down ideas for what could happen in a future story if you want it.
> 
> Until then, peace out! :')


End file.
